


The Occultist Rituals

by tititenis



Category: Persona 5
Genre: F/F, F/M, Follows the game ending, Gen, Older AU, Original Characters - Freeform, Sae and Makoto act like sisters now and not strangers!, Takes place 13 years after P5, all of them became what they hoped to after P5, case heavy, no mentions of persona 5 royal, rated M because of descriptions of violence and language, story follows Makoto
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:00:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24053278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tititenis/pseuds/tititenis
Summary: “Reporters can be brutal sometimes.” Makoto hears being said and turns around to see Detectives Takashi and Aoki standing beside her.“Indeed.” she murmurs and gets straight to business. “Though they are not wrong. It is strange for the Commissioner to go to the field. Yet you said that I needed to see this in person.”“Indeed.” Aoki tells her calmly. “The victim is one of ours. Officer Kanodi.”Police Commissioner Makoto Nijiima is suddenly called to a crime scene where the victim is one of her police officers. Noticing the particular conditions the body was found, Makoto can't stop herself from wondering if what she's seeing is related to what happened to the Phantom Thieves and her 13 years ago.
Relationships: Niijima Makoto/Takamaki Ann, Niijima Sae/Takemi Tae
Comments: 7
Kudos: 43





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all! 
> 
> This is my first time writing a Persona story so I'm excited about it! I have only played P5 and watched the animation so my knowledge comes from those two. Nothing about Persona 5R will be included since I haven't played the game yet :)  
> Like I mentioned, this story follows canon and takes place 13 years after the finale of P5. 
> 
> Let me know what you think!

**_Tokyo, 20XX_ **

It was a calm and serene night in the city of Tokyo. 

Police Officer Sachiko Kanodi had been quietly making her rounds since her shift started an hour ago. Having just graduated from the police academy, this was only her second time on night patrol. Usually they went in groups of two to make sure that no police officer would be alone. And lucky for her, she had gotten a great partner to teach her the ropes. His name was Hajime Yokozuna and he had been a part of the force for four years. At first she had been worried about being paired with a man. She knew there were many men in her unit who thought that she shouldn’t be a police officer because of her gender. Yet Yokozuna had been wonderful, kind and friendly. Almost like the older brother she never had. 

Having grown up outside of the city, Kanodi had heard many stories about how Tokyo could be a dangerous place, specially at night. Nevertheless, all she felt was excitement because she had done what no one in her town had expected her to do: She had become a police officer. 

Smiling, Kanodi expects this night to go by quickly. Maybe Yokozuna and her will be able to go grab something to eat after they check the last area of the block. 

Who was she kidding. She wouldn’t be able to wait for that long. 

“I’m so hungry!” Kanodi complains to her partner. “I had an early dinner and right now my stomach is grumbling!” 

Yokozuna laughs. 

“We still have a couple of hours left before our shift is done.” 

“I don’t think I’ll be able to hold on till then.” she groans and uses her pleading eyes on her senpai. “Senpai, couldn’t you go get us something from one of the vending machines we saw a couple of streets away?” 

“You really are a terrible influence Kanodi.” Yokozuna groans but still smiles at her. “I will go get us something to eat as long as you promise to not do anything stupid. Just keep patrolling the street and don’t go anywhere else no matter what.” 

“I will do as you say senpai!” Kanodi promises and watches Yokozuna walk back to where the vending machines were. 

She had really been lucky when it came to partners. 

Once Yokozuna was far away, Kanodi turned back to the other side of the street. While well illuminated, there wasn’t a lot of movement around. Certainly not something that you would expect from a metropolis such as Tokyo. 

_ Another quiet and peaceful night…  _ she thinks. 

Nevertheless, what happens right after she thinks that is that she hears a scream coming from a couple of streets away from her. Turning back to see if Yokozuka was coming back, when she didn’t see him she made a quick decision. Turning her radio on to ask for backup, Kanodi did what she practiced many times before and took her gun out, not risking the possibility of being ambushed. 

“Officer Kanodi requesting backup. Heard suspicious screams coming from a couple of streets north. Going ahead to verify, over.” 

_ “Understood. Proceed with caution and do not engage if possible. Backup is coming, over.”  _ she gets a quick response. 

_ “Kanodi, don’t you dare move! I’m on my way!”  _ she gets a private response from the frequency Yokozuka and her share. 

“Someone could be dying! I will go find out what’s going on so you better catch up with me senpai.” she says to Yokozuka and silences her radio. 

Moving forward, Kanodi started running towards the screams, measuring every step so that she wouldn’t make a mistake. Once she knew that she was in close range, she took the safety out of her gun and jumped forward, identifying herself while doing so. 

“Police! Raise your hands where I can see them!” she orders but stops when she realizes no one is there. 

Confused, Kanodi starts looking around her, trying to understand what had happened or if those screams had been a figment of her imagination. Yet, what she hears instead is another scream that makes her jump and point her gun at a strange shadow that was coming out of the wall. 

Shocked, the young police officer could see that whatever that thing was, it was coming towards her. Shooting it twice, she noticed that the bullets merely went through the shadow, staying lodged on the wall behind it. 

“Shit…” Kanodi whispers and tries to move away, only to feel that her feet were being held to the ground by this thing. 

“Let me go! Let go!” she screams desperately, kicking and doing everything in her power to break free from that strong and dark grasp. “Help, help!” she shrieks and only stops when she is suddenly released, the shadow having retreated back to the wall. 

Yet Kanodi knew that it wasn’t over. That thing had only let her go because it seemed like it needed the shadows holding her down to change forms. Now, instead of it being ephemeral, the shadow looked real. 

And it was staring straight at her. 

Deciding that there was no way she would be able to face such a thing, Kanodi ran away. And, the moment she did that, the shadow started chasing her as well. Kanodi could hear the way her frantic steps echoed through the silent streets. Could see the way she was losing speed and could listen to the terrifying growls of that creature getting closer. 

Crying, she knew that she was running out of time. Making sure that her body camera was facing the alleyway, it was by pure chance that Kanodi noticed that the red light that usually indicated that the camera was recording was off. Panicking, she takes her cell phone out and starts the video camera, desperately trying to hide the phone so that whatever was chasing her wouldn’t find it. Just as she was able to put it away, Kanodi turned around and was faced with terrifying red eyes.

A white flash and then everything became darkness. 


	2. A Peculiar Case

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Commissioner Makoto Niijima is called by her detectives to a crime scene. What she finds there is not good news.

_“The commissioner should come see this.”_ was the message her secretary gave to her the moment she arrived to the office. 

Police Commissioner Makoto Niijima rarely had to step outside of her office these days. Her position, though within the police department and one that required training in police work and good physical condition, was more about managing the police body and the infrastructure of the department than being on the streets. And Makoto liked it that way because it allowed her to have control of her department and direct communication with the major of Tokyo.

It was a position that gave her enough power to change things in the system. 

Which had been what she had wanted to do since her time with the Phantom Thieves showed her how corrupt the police was. 

Taking a small breath, she couldn’t stop herself from smiling. Although all of them had gone their separate ways once they graduated, the Phantoms still managed to meet from time to time. Though it was a little difficult because of their busy schedules. 

Ryuji had become the track and field coach of a middle school in the city and most of his time was spent coaching. Haru had inherited her father’s company and was now its CEO, managing to switch it from its bad reputation into a respectable and very well known cacao and coffee enterprise. Futaba did what she usually did (hacking basically) and only because Makoto knew she never used that information to hurt others, she usually ignored the ginger’s many brushes with the law. In fact, sometimes Makoto found herself chuckling a little when the Inspector of Internet Crimes complained about Futaba during their monthly meetings. Akira had moved back to his hometown and with the help of Morgana was now successfully operating a coffee shop of his own. Yusuke, after graduating, had become a celebrated artist in Japan and chose to move to America where he said it was easier for him to draw inspiration from. 

And Ann… 

The blonde woman, Makoto’s first friend and crush, had become a successful model and spent most of the year traveling to different cities to be in photo-shoots.

Yet they all still made sure of seeing each other once a year. All knew that they would be Phantom Thieves forever. 

“Commissioner Niijima, we are here.” the brunette heard the officer that drove her addressing her and that’s when Makoto realized that she had already arrived to the crime scene. Nodding in understanding, she thanked the young man and opened the door, careful of not slipping on the muddy floor.

Waiting for her were two other officers. 

“Commissioner Niijima.” they said respectfully. 

“Morning.” she says politely. “Is the area secure?” 

The two police officers nod. 

“We set up a barricade around the perimeter and no one that is not police can go in.” 

“We were also able to make sure that all the media outlets were outside the area before closing it since what they like to do sometimes is hide and pretend they live in the surroundings.” 

“Good job.” she tells them honestly. “What about detectives Takashi and Aoki?” 

“Detectives Takashi and Aoki are already on the scene.” the officer tells her solemnly. “They were the ones that told us to send that message back to HQ.” 

“Then lead the way.” Makoto orders and follows them while analyzing her surroundings. 

Police cars and officers were around the block, making sure of keeping reporters and onlookers away from the vicinity of the crime scene. There were cameras already on standby, and once they noticed her walking towards the yellow tapes, they immediately started recording. Makoto knew that her presence would raise the eyes of many. 

It wasn’t often that the police commissioner made appearances like this. 

“Commissioner Niijima! Commissioner Niijima!” reporters started screaming to get her attention.

“What are you doing here? Why is the commissioner so interested in this case?” were some of the questions that Makoto was able to hear. 

“Is this crime particular in a way that made you have to come personally to the scene to see it?” was the one that got her attention. 

_I don’t know that yet…_ she thought but still turned around to give a statement to the camera. 

“My presence here today is nothing more than professional routine. The moment we find out more information, we will gladly inform the public about it.” Makoto says firmly and steps away from the camera, having the yellow tapes separate her from the reporters. 

“They can be brutal sometimes.” she hears being said and turns around to see Detectives Takashi and Aoki standing beside her. 

“Indeed.” she murmurs and gets straight to business. “Though they are not wrong. It is strange for the Commissioner to go to the field. Yet you said that I needed to see this in person.” 

“Indeed.” Aoki tells her calmly. “The victim is one of ours. Officer Kanodi.” 

This makes Makoto close her eyes. She remembers reading Kanodi’s file during one of her weekly meetings with her superintendents. Officer Kanodi had been reported missing a couple of days ago, her family not aware of her whereabouts. Many thought that she had gotten involved in something nasty. 

Maybe that _did_ happen. 

“She was the officer that was reported missing a couple of days ago, correct?” she asks to confirm. 

“Correct. Her family reported her missing after she didn’t make it back home for three days.” 

“Was it normal for her to take that long to report to her family?” Makoto inquires. 

“Yes and no. Her family explained to us that since she just started getting work shifts, they thought she had chosen to take some extra ones. Apparently she had been wanting to buy a car and thought that by working more hours she would be able to get the car by the end of the month.” Takashi explains. 

Makoto nods in understanding. 

“After Kanodi finished her work shift with Officer Yokozuna, she left the police station and never returned home.” Aoki adds and gives his tablet to Makoto, who watches the video of Officer Kanodi heading out of the police station. “But that’s not the only reason why we called you, Commissioner.” he leads her to the body and it takes Makoto a lot to not gasp in shock. 

“This cannot be Kanodi.” she says confused. 

The woman in front of her was in a horrible state. Her eyes and hair were completely white. The smell of her body being of obvious decomposition and her torso had been split open. Getting closer so she can take a better look, Makoto notices that there were organs missing from the body. But what was even more shocking was that the body in front of them looked like it was in its 70s and not in its mid twenties, which is the age that Officer Kanodi was supposed to be. 

“ID and wallet recovered were Kanodi’s.” Aoki explains. “And, in one of the many descriptions of the victim, it was mentioned that she had a surgery mark on her left shoulder and a burn mark on her right hip.” 

“While checking the body for rigor mortis, the medical examiner found similar marks. That, with the wallet, led us to believe this could be Kanodi.” Takashi adds unsure. “I know it’s crazy to even believe this, but this woman looks like an older Kanodi would look like, doesn’t she?” 

Makoto has to agree because the woman certainly looks similar to Officer Kanodi. Her picture had been sent to many media outlets and Makoto had become familiar with her face. 

“Only DNA will be able to give us a better idea of what we’re seeing.” Makoto responds. “What did Doctor Suzuki say about this?” 

“Medical examiner is not sure. She said that there is so much going on at the scene that she can only give us a cause of death once she takes the body to the morgue.” Aoki says. “But what she did mention to us was that the aging of the body seemed completely natural and that were some vital organs missing. Also that the victim wasn’t killed in this spot. That’s why there’s not a lot blood.” Aoki says. 

“So the perpetrator purposely placed her here.” Makoto murmurs. “Question is, did the perpetrator just kill her now or did they do it when she first went missing? And if so, are those two things connected?” she turns to look at Aoki and Takashi. “Any prints, hair or fluids around the crime scene?” 

“Nothing.” Takashi tells her. “The medical examiner and CSI team took samples to check for any outside chemicals. Also, we got them to scan the scene for anything that seemed out of place. Nothing peculiar about it.” 

“And her phone?” Makoto asks. 

Now that phones were such an integral part of people’s lives, it was imperative for them to recover them. They gave clues about the last whereabouts and thoughts of the victims. 

“Still not recovered. We are frantically looking for it.” 

Makoto nods. 

“And the media?” 

“Unaware of what happened. A man found the victim while he was taking the trash out during the early morning and immediately called us.” Aoki tells her. 

“Make sure that the media doesn’t hear anything about this until we get a cause of death. The moment it is confirmed that this is Officer Kanodi, I will personally take charge of informing her family and offering them our condolences.”

“Yes ma'am.” 

“And the moment you find that phone I want you to inform me. You will report your findings directly to me as well as let me know when the medical examiner asks to meet with you. I want to be present in that talk.”

“Understood.” the two detectives reply. 

“In order to move forward we need to figure out when and where she was killed. That will give us an idea of how long she has been missing and what she was doing.” Makoto emphasizes. 

Detectives Aoki and Takashi nod. 

“Now, if you’ll excuse me.” Makoto finishes and leaves them behind, only throwing her calm and collected facade once she’s inside the car on her way back to the station. 

There was something about this case that didn’t feel right. 

And this was worrying her. 

* * *

“You look worried…” she heard a concerned voice say to her and Makoto looks up from her food to see Sae staring at her. 

“I’m sorry Sis.” she says feeling guilty. 

It has been a while since the two of them were able to meet. Her sister had texted her the night before about her availability and Makoto had been really excited about seeing her. After she went to college, Sae had decided to move to another apartment and start her practice as a defense attorney. Now she didn’t have the pressure of meeting a quota and was able to help people that really needed her. Makoto could see how her new career fulfilled Sae. Made her become the sister she remembered. 

“You messaged me to have dinner together and here I am being terrible company.” Makoto huffs. “And I even made sure of cooking your favorite.” 

“That’s alright.” Sae smiles kindly at her. “And everything is delicious as always.” 

“Thanks Sis.” Makoto murmurs while blushing brightly. 

This makes Sae laugh. 

“Still can’t take a compliment… Whatever will you do when someone you like does it?” 

“Saeeeee.” Makoto pouts. “Stop being mean.” 

The two sisters laugh loudly. 

“Thank you for doing that.” the brunette tells her honestly. “I really needed it.” 

“I noticed.” Sae tells her honestly. “Something happen at work that’s bugging you?” 

“You could say that.” Makoto murmurs and knows that she can now share her fears and worries with Sae. 

Her sister wasn’t going to judge her. 

“Do you remember that police officer woman that was reported missing?” 

“I remember seeing in the news something about it.” Sae tells her calmly. 

“We believe we found her body this morning.” she says sadly. 

“I’m sorry to hear that Makoto. Was that the reason why you made a TV appearance?” 

“You saw that?” 

Her sister chuckles. 

“It’s not everyday that the Police Commissioner of the prefecture of Tokyo makes a TV appearance. You looked wonderful, by the way.” 

“Sis…” Makoto says embarrassed. 

“Dad would be so proud of you.” she adds and this makes Makoto give her a warm smile. 

“Of both of us. He would be proud of you too.” she squeezes her sister’s hand. “Of how brave and strong you are.” 

Now Sae blushes too. 

“Anyway…” she changes the topic. “Was the case mentioned on television this one?” 

Makoto nods. 

“The reason why we are uncertain about the identity of the victim is because of the strange conditions of the body.” 

“What do you mean?” Sae asks confused. “Was it that bad that making an ID wasn’t possible?” 

“Not really. The scene was macabre. But in the sense that her body looked and yet didn’t look like hers at all. For some strange reason she looked older. Like she was in her 70s.” 

“Like she suddenly became old?” Sae thinks outloud. 

After the two of them had the Phantom Thieves’ experience, nothing seemed impossible. So to now consider the possibility of someone suddenly becoming old wasn’t that hard. 

“I don’t know yet.” Makoto closes her eyes and takes a swig of her drink. “The medical examiner is doing an autopsy and will inform us of her findings tomorrow.” 

“Do you think you know who could be involved?” 

“You mean supernatural gods and spirits from the metaverse?” Makoto murmurs. “I’m not sure. It’s not often that I get cases like this. And when I do get them, they’re just a bad hoax. But this one feels different.” 

“Trust your instincts, they have never led you astray.” Sae tells her kindly. “And, if your medical examiner can’t find the answer to the questions you seek, why not find another doctor? One that may be more open to supernatural cases?” 

“You mean Tae-chan?” she then gives her sister a sly smile. “Talking about her, how are you two doing? I was surprised when you told me that you two started living together.” 

“She’s doing great. She says she hates being a family doctor but in fact loves it. And living with her is certainly different from living with you. She doesn’t know how to cook, she is a messy person and her clothes and shoes tend to be all around the place.” Sae chuckles but then becomes serious. “Makes me realize how kind and wonderful you were with me.” 

“Sis…” 

“You always had the place spotless. You cooked all my meals. You made sure that I had nothing to worry about when I got back from work and you did everything you could to make things easier for me.” the older woman closes her eyes. “I regret not realizing this sooner. Not being able to enjoy spending time with you.” 

Makoto grabs her sister’s hand tightly. She knew Sae had her fair share of regrets. And, after things settled down following Akira’s departure, the two of them had a deep heart to heart talk. One where they shared everything they felt, which led them to become closer. 

“I have no regrets.” Makoto says firmly. “Everything that happened, it led to us two being like this. You, happy in a job you love with a woman you love. And me, in a job I love with a great relationship with the person I’ve always admired the most.” 

“I love you Makoto.” Sae says softly and opens her eyes when she feels her sister hugging her tight. 

“I love you too Sis.” she promises and separates from her when she hears her phone ringing. “At this time?” she says annoyed. 

“You should go answer it.” Sae gives her a kind smile. “I’m sure something really important must be happening for them to call the commissioner at 9pm. I’ll take care of the dishes while you answer the call.” 

Makoto nods thankfully and takes her phone to her office, which had previously been Sae’s room. 

“Commissioner Niijima.” she says firmly. 

_“Apologies for calling you so late.”_ Detective Takashi says embarrassed. _“But the medical examiner called us and told us she wants to meet with us right now. You said you wanted to be in this meeting too.”_

“She wants to meet now?” she asks confused. 

_“Said that what she needed to tell us couldn’t wait and that she wasn’t certain the evidence would remain there till the morning. Aoki and I are on our way to the morgue. Would you like for us to pick you up?”_

“That is not necessary.” Makoto says while grabbing her bike keys and her helmet. “I can meet you both there.” 

_“Understood.”_ Takashi said and hung up. 

Making sure that she was dressed decently, Makoto got out of the office and saw her sister laying on one of the couches of the living room. 

“Duty calls?” Sae asks her amused. 

“I’m sorry I have to leave. I really don’t want to since I’ve been looking forward to our movie night.” Makoto says disappointed. “But it seems like it’s really important.” 

“We can reschedule.” Sae promises her kindly. “Now go do what you need to do.” she kisses her sister on the cheek before turning to grab her purse and keys. 

“About what you mentioned earlier…” she tells her sister. “Could you help me make that happen? I know how Tae-chan can be about special requests from the police. Not that I really blame her about it.” 

“If you ask her I’m certain she will say yes immediately. But I’ll go ahead and do that for you.” Sae smiles wickedly at her. “There are some requests she can’t refuse. Certainly not mine.” she promises. “Now go, I’ll lock everything on my way out.” 

“Thank you Sis. Love you!” Makoto runs out of the apartment and gets on her bike quickly. 

Driving through the city, Makoto knew that whatever the medical examiner had found had to be important enough to get her to summon the detectives at almost 10pm. 

And that only made her worry even more. 

Thankfully, her apartment was very close to the morgue. And, because of the late hour, there wasn’t much traffic. Hence, a trip that should have taken her 20 minutes ended up becoming a 10 minute ride. 

In fact, it seemed that just as she was arriving to the parking lot, Takashi and Aoki were also getting out of their car. 

“Commissioner Niijima.” both said surprised at seeing their boss get down from a very nice looking bike. “You got here very quickly.” 

“I was around the neighborhood.” Makoto says simply and notices Takashi still staring at her bike appreciatively. “You like bikes, Detective Takashi?” 

“You have a really sweet ride Boss.” he says a little embarrassed at having been caught. 

“Thank you. I like it too.” she smiles softly. “Now, did the medical examiner tell you something else apart from summoning us to the morgue at this late hour?” 

The two detectives immediately turn serious. 

“Nothing. She just said that she discovered some disturbing things on the body and that she needed to discuss this with us in person.” Aoki explains. 

“She sounded truly lost.” Takashi adds. “Like she saw something that she can’t explain and hence can’t truly believe.” 

“Then we should go and listen to what she has to say.” Makoto tells them and they all walk towards the building. 

“Niijima, Takashi and Aoki.” she says to the guard at the lobby who writes their names, not without looking surprisingly at her. 

“Of course.” he stutters a little. “Please head down to the lowest floor.” 

“We know where it is, thank you.” Aoki says firmly and they leave the guard behind. “You think he’ll talk to the media about the Boss being here?” 

“If he does, we will know.” Makoto tells them calmly. “Our priority is to meet with the medical examiner, not intimidate a guard.” 

“Of course Boss.” Aoki apologizes while calling the elevator. “This case is just getting on my nerves a little.” 

“You are not alone in feeling this, Detective Aoki.” Makoto reassures him. “But we need to act calmly. The last thing we want to do is cause panic.” 

Nodding in understanding, the two detectives and Makoto get on the elevator, deciding to remain silent. Each one of them was thinking about the things they had just seen. And, while Makoto was trying to keep a calm and composed demeanor, inside she was growing more concerned. 

Getting out of the elevator, the three of them calmly walk towards the examination room, making sure of being loud enough so that the doctor wouldn’t be surprised by their arrival. 

“Doctor Suzuki.” Makoto says politely while knocking on her office door. 

“Come in.” the doctor invites them in and that’s all Makoto needs to hear before opening the door and seeing a very tired Aiya Suzuki, Chief Medical Examiner of the Prefecture of Tokyo, sitting at her desk. “Commissioner Niijima, I was expecting you to be here.” 

“Makoto please.” she smiles kindly at the older woman who had been a mentor of sorts to her through her time in the force. “And I believe you understand why I would need to be here for this autopsy.” 

Aiya nods in understanding. 

“I suspected you would want to know immediately what was going on. That’s why I decided to start the autopsy right away. Unfortunately, I don’t have the number of answers I was hoping to give you. And the answers I do have will only bring forward more questions.” Aiya says despondently. 

“Any answer will be an important lead, Aiya-san.” she tells the old woman kindly. 

“Of course.” the doctor says and stands up. “Please follow me to the examination room.” she tells them while taking the lead and opening the door to the room. “As you can see…” she tells them while putting her gloves, hat and goggles on. “Based on the state of the body, I can say that it is a female between the ages of 65 to 80 years old. DNA test confirms that this is Officer Kanodi.” she continues somberly and this makes them all stare worriedly at each other. 

“Please continue Doctor Suzuki.” Makoto asks her. 

“I did a normal autopsy on the body and discovered that as suspected, the heart, the liver and her lungs were missing. And, the scars that were used to partially identify the body as Kanodi’s were not recent. They were done a long time ago.” 

“What about the cause of death?” Takashi asks worried. “I mean, when we found her, her eyes were completely white and you said that she probably wasn’t killed there because there wasn’t a lot of blood around her.” 

“The fact that you discovered her like this, as well as the state of her hands and nails.” Aiya shows them said body parts and they all see that her nails are completely broken and her fingers seem to be snapped. “It makes me think that she died of extreme shock.” 

“So she died out of fear…” Makoto says worriedly. “Could a shock like that cause such a reaction?”

“Yes.” Aiya answers her. “Whatever it was that she saw… It was something that terrified her to death. But that also forces me to reconsider my previous statement of the location of the crime. I can tell you that the removal of the organs was done post-mortem. Yet because she died so quickly and from such a sudden death, I can’t confirm whether the perpetrator remained with the body until it entered rigor mortis and then cut the organs or killed her somewhere else and then moved the body to the crime scene.” 

“How long has she been in rigor mortis?” Makoto asks. 

“More than 48 hours but less than 72. Also, livor mortis is absent from the body which would usually allow me to determine whether the victim was murdered at the crime scene or not.” Aiya explains. “But because the rigor mortis is more than 24 hours old I can’t scientifically conclude whether she was or wasn’t moved.” 

"Yet her family reported her missing three days ago." Takashi adds. 

"Then we can assume that the day after her night shift ended she was still alive." Makoto asks Aiya who nods in agreement. 

“Now we just need to figure out where she was during those two other days. Maybe that will give us a better idea of where she ran into her killer.” Aoki says. 

“I wouldn’t normally panic if I’m not able to obtain an estimated time of death.” Aiya tells Makoto worriedly. “But that in combination with the strange aging of the body... This isn’t something that I have ever seen.” she adds clearly distressed. “I can’t explain how, but DNA doesn’t lie. This woman laying on my examination table is Officer Kanodi. How her 26 year old body suddenly became the one of a senior woman… That I am not certain.” 

“You said you needed to tell us this right away.” Makoto says softly. “Not that I don’t understand the gravity of what you have discovered, but why couldn’t it wait till the morning?” 

“Because as we are speaking, her body continues aging. At a very fast rate. That is why I gave you such a wide estimate for her age. I don’t know how fast her body ages and it may probably be completely useless in a couple of hours.” 

“You have got to be kidding me!” Aoki exclaims. “You mean to tell us that we will lose all the evidence in a matter of hours?” 

“That is what I am saying, Detective Aoki.” Aiya informs them solemnly and then stares at Makoto. “Perhaps it’s time you bring Takemi here to take a look.” 

“Perhaps you’re right.” Makoto whispers and takes out her phone. 

“You can go use my office.” Aiya tells her warmly. “Meanwhile, I’ll keep the detectives entertained. 

“Thank you.” Makoto goes out of the room and into the office to make the phone call. 

“ _Makoto?”_ she hears her sister’s sleepy voice. “ _Why are you calling me so late?”_ she starts waking up and her sleepiness turns to worry. _“Did something happen? Are you alright?!”_

“I am alright and I am sorry for worrying you, Sis.” Makoto immediately reassures her. “But something did happen. And I will need you to ask for that request sooner than expected _.”_

 _“By soon, how soon do you mean?”_ Sae asks wide awake. 

“Now.” Makoto says seriously. 

_“Hmm, that serious…”_ Sae says simply. _“Tae, get up.”_ she hears her talking to her girlfriend. _“Makoto needs us to go to the morgue?”_

“Yes, I will have a detective waiting for you so he can escort you two down here.” 

_“You won’t try to stop me from coming too?”_

“I know there’s no way I can convince you of letting Tae-chan come alone. Besides, I would also like your input on things since you also saw some stuff during that event.” 

_“Understood.”_ Sae tells her simply. _“We’ll see you in 20 minutes.”_

“Thank you sister.” she hangs up and gets out, watching both Takashi and Aoki stare expectantly at her. 

“They will be here in 20 minutes.” she informs them calmly. 

“I’m surprised Takemi is coming along. She dislikes this place a lot. Not that I blame her.” Aiya adds. 

“I know a person that can convince Takemi of doing stuff she may not want to do.” Makoto simply says and this makes Aiya chuckle. 

“Well, it will be nice to see the two of them. Although the circumstances may not be the greatest.” 

“By Takemi you mean Doctor Tae Takemi?” Takashi asks Makoto. “Renowned doctor at the University of Tokyo?” 

Makoto nods in confirmation. 

“Hopefully she will help us answer some of the questions we have.” she murmurs and waits for her sister and sister in law to arrive. 

* * *

“This must be really serious if Mako-chan asked you to talk to me instead of her contacting me as the police commissioner.” Tae says while dressing up. 

“She was worried.” Sae murmurs. “I could see it in her eyes. Something about this case has gotten to her.” 

“I was pleasantly surprised when you suddenly came back to our place instead of staying the night at your sister’s.” she says softly. 

“I know Makoto. And whatever she saw in that crime scene shook her.” 

“Does she think that it may have to do with what happened all those years ago?” the blue-haired woman asks seriously. “With the metaverse.” 

“She doesn’t want to think so but I know she has thought about it at some point of the investigation. For her to get involved so quickly means that there is an element to it that conventional means can’t solve.” 

“Well, hopefully I’ll be able to help soothe her fears.” Tae says kindly while kissing the silver-haired woman on the lips. “Really, the things I do for you Niijimas.” 

Sae chuckles. 

“I’ll owe you one.” she kisses her girlfriend back. “And so will Makoto.” 

“Mmmm, having the Police Commissioner and my girlfriend both owing me favors does sound very enticing.” she chuckles and grabs her medical bag. “Alright, I am ready whenever you are.” she smirks when she sees Sae grabbing the keys to her bike. “Not taking the car today, oh solemn defense attorney Niijima?” 

Sae merely winks at her. 

“I mean, when else will I get the chance to ride it? After Makoto convinced me to take lessons and then get my license… This is the perfect opportunity to really try out that new bike you got me.” 

“I couldn’t agree more.” Tae says while giving her a helmet and putting one on her own head. “Besides, I’m confident there will be no traffic at this time.”

“My thoughts exactly.” the defense attorney closes the door to their apartment and drives them to the morgue, making sure of going as fast and safely as possible. 

Once they made it to the morgue, they made sure to park the bike right next to Makoto’s, which was the only one in the bike parking lot. 

“I forgot how nice Mako-chan’s bike is.” Tae says while inspecting the bike. “A really cool ‘congratulations for getting a promotion’ gift.” 

“You helped me get it for her.” Sae tells her amused and they both notice a man staring curiously at the two of them. 

Or at Sae's bike to be more specific. 

“You’re the detective Commissioner Niijima told us would be expecting us?” Sae asks firmly and this makes the man remember what he was supposed to do. 

“Indeed. I am Detective Daichi Takashi.” he says politely. “It is a pleasure to meet you.” 

“Defense attorney Sae Niijima and Doctor Tae Takemi. Pleasure is ours.” they introduce themselves. “Now, can you please take us to where Commissioner Niijima is?” Sae says anxiously. 

“Of course.” he answers quickly and takes them through the building, noticing how people were staring at the two women behind them. 

This was certainly going to be on the news. 

“This place hasn’t changed at all.” Tae says while getting inside the elevator. “How poor Aiya can come work here everyday is beyond my understanding.” 

Sae chuckles. 

“I’m sure she thinks the same thing regarding your line of work, darling.” she jokes and this makes the doctor pout a little. 

Remaining silent at the exchange happening behind him, Takashi couldn’t stop himself from thinking how powerful and strong the two women looked. 

_A perfect match._

He had heard many stories about defense attorney Sae Niijima. He had followed her career as a public prosecutor and her famous cases which involved the Phantom Thieves and then Prime Minister Shido. After those two ended, it was a surprise for many to see Niijima quitting and instead choosing to become a defense attorney. Usually lawyers did the opposite and tried to win their way inside government jobs because they had more benefits and opportunities to advance positions. Yet Sae Niijima had done the opposite and was now famous for selecting cases where her clients were incapable of defending themselves or had zero opportunities of winning. 

Doctor Tae Takemi was also pretty special. Many knew her as the Plague before it was uncovered that the chief doctor of Tokyo University Hospital had placed the blame on her for a mistake he committed. After Takemi successfully invented a new vaccine, many universities and hospitals asked her to join their teams as chief of medical research. Yet she refused all of them and chose to keep her small-private practice. It was just recently that she started to work for the University of Tokyo and everyone knew that the only reason she accepted the job was because they gave her free reign in choosing what to study and freedom to go to the university whenever she wanted to. 

So for him to see the two women together, acting like this, meant a lot. And, to realize that her boss, who in her own way was also a pretty formidable woman, knew them… 

It certainly made things become more interesting. 

“Follow me, please.” Takashi says to them while leading them to the morgue. “Commissioner Niijima, Dr. Suzuki and Detective Aoki are inside.” 

Making sure that they were not being followed, Takashi opens the door to the examination room and gives space to the two guests so they could enter. Once they did so, they were immediately met by Commissioner Niijima and Dr. Suzuki. 

“Makoto.” Sae says relieved and can’t stop herself from hugging her sister tight. “I know you said nothing happened to you but I was still a little worried.” 

Makoto smiles kindly at her. 

“I am sorry I made you worry but I am not sorry about the opportunity to see you again.” she then turns around to hug Tae. “And thank you for coming so quickly.”

“Of course Mako-chan.” Tae tells her softly. “It sounded important.” 

“I’m afraid this specific case is a little out of my league.” Aiya says and goes to hug both Sae and Tae. “I wish it were under better circumstances but I am happy to see both of you.” 

“So are we Aiya-san.” Tae tells her colleague simply. “Now, Sae told me that we don’t have enough time before the body loses all the evidence in it.” she shows them her bag. “And I am ready.” 

Aiya chuckles. 

“Of course Dr. Takemi. Please follow me so I can lend you some robes and gloves.” the two doctors walk away and leave the two detectives with the two Niijima women. 

“Sae, these are detectives Takashi and Aoki. Detectives, this is my sister Defense Attorney Sae Niijima.”

“A pleasure.” Sae tells them politely. 

“The pleasure is ours Niijima-san.” Aoki responds. “We are glad you’re here to help us with the case.” 

This makes Sae turn around to look at her sister. 

“It’s not very good.” Makoto admits worriedly. “Aiya-san wasn’t able to tell me much apart from the fact that the body was the one of Officer Kanodi and that it was the one of a 65 to 80 year old woman.” 

This makes Sae stare at her sister in complete surprise. 

“Is that even possible?” she asks confused. 

“That’s what I was hoping Tae-chan could help us answer. I know she has seen some stuff and the way some chemicals work. Maybe she has heard about something that can do this. We also learned that she wasn’t killed the moment she was reported missing.” 

“And we still don’t know where she was after she was reported missing.” Takashi adds. 

“So you really need to get more evidence from the body to try to figure out why it is that her body turned this old so quickly.” Sae says mostly to herself and sees that Tae and Aiya are ready. 

Before they can enter the examination room, they all hear a phone ring. Looking at each other, Aoki realizes that it is his and answers it quickly. 

“Really?! That’s great news!” he says excitedly to the curious eyes of everyone. “I’ll go retrieve it right now. Don’t go anywhere.” he finishes the call. “They found Kanodi’s phone. CSI located it a couple of blocks away from the crime scene.” 

“That is good news.” Makoto says a little relieved. “It will give us an idea of what Kanodi’s last days were like. I want you two to go together to retrieve it. Although it may seem exaggerated, until we find out who killed Officer Kanodi, no police officer or detective will go anywhere without a partner while on duty.” 

“Understood Boss.” they say and bow to all the women in the room before running to their car. 

“They seem very reliable.” Sae tells her sister with a soft smile. 

“They are good men.” Makoto agrees. “Now, how about we let Tae-chan take a look at the body?” 

“Understood.” Aiya says and opens the door. “I also brought some gloves for you two.” she gives them to Makoto and Sae. “We wouldn’t want you two contaminating anything.” 

“Of course not.” Sae says worriedly and puts her gloves right away. 

“You look good with those.” Tae jokes and Makoto can’t stop herself from chuckling softly. 

“Now Tae-chan, don’t start flirting with my sister.” 

“Alright.” the older woman promises. “I’m ready Aiya-chan.” 

“Okay.” she opens the door and the four women go inside the room where the body is laying. 

“You weren’t joking.” Tae says surprised when she sees the old body laying on top of the examination table. “She looks like she’s around her late 80s.” 

“She looks older than before.” Makoto says in complete shock. “And it hasn’t even been 40 minutes since we last saw her.” 

“Aging is going even faster than expected.” Aiya murmurs worriedly. “Have you ever seen something like this Tae?” 

Tae shakes her head. 

“From the results of the exams you showed me, it seems like the aging starts at a cellular level. Like the one we normally experience. But the speed of this one is exponentially faster than any I have ever seen. Almost as if something is draining her energy.” Tae murmurs while getting closer to the body. “The eyes, you said they were completely white, correct?” 

Aiya nods in confirmation. 

“And that she died out of shock, right?” 

Aiya nods again. 

“To be quite honest, it almost seems as if something attacked her and sucked the life out of her. And, the reason her body is becoming older is because whatever entity or thing that did so is still doing so even now.” 

“But why take the organs out then?” Makoto asks Tae. 

“Maybe it’s something ritualistic?” Sae asks. “If we’re considering the supernatural route for this crime, then maybe those organs needed to be taken out before the body can be drained of its life energy.” she finishes explaining and gets surprising looks from all the women in the room. 

“You seem very knowledgeable about supernatural things Sis.” Makoto says. 

“After what happened thirteen years ago I decided to expand my horizons and learn more about the supernatural. Besides, so many cases of mine have had ritualistic elements in them…” she huffs. “Had to learn what those meant so I could use it as evidence.” 

“Did you ever see something like this in one of your previous cases?” Tae asks her. 

“No. But organ removal is always related with the occult. Like a sacrifice or offering of some sort.” Sae explains. 

“Then it isn’t too far fetched to assume that those two things are connected.” Makoto murmurs. “But something I just thought about: If we make the assumption that Sis’ theory is right and that the organ removal is part of a ritual to take the life source of Officer Kanodi’s body… If her body is still aging then wouldn’t that mean that the ritual is still ongoing?” she says and the moment she does so the lights in the room crack. 

Looking worriedly at her surroundings, Makoto takes her gun out, motioning for Sae, Tae and Aiya to get behind her. Barricading themselves to a wall, it is only when she hears a guttural scream that she realizes that whatever had been inside the body of Kanodi had chosen to make its presence known. 

“AH!” she hears Aiya screaming and that’s when they all notice her being grabbed by a shadow from inside the wall. 

“Sae, your phone!” Tae screams and turns the flashlight on, managing to make the shadow disappear and for the presence holding Aiya to let go of her. 

“It seems like it uses the shadows to move around.” Tae says. “We need to be careful of where we stand. 

Nodding in confirmation, Makoto makes sure that nothing in her body and posture can be used against her. Meanwhile, Sae, Tae and Aiya are turning the flashlights of their phones on, doing their best to light the room as much as possible. 

“We can’t stay like this.” Makoto says worriedly. “In the dark like this we are easy targets.” she stares at Aiya. “Is there a backup generator or any kind of lights for emergencies like this one?” 

“In the back, yes.” Aiya tells her worriedly. “But you can’t be considering going there.” 

“I am going there.” she replies firmly and turns on the flashlight of her phone. “You three stay here and don’t move.” 

“Makoto…” Sae says worriedly. 

“I’ll be alright.” she promises. 

Nevertheless, before Makoto can even move, they see all the shadows in the room getting together in one big pile. From it, a creature of dark skin and red lines, with a familiar white mask on its face, was slowly making its way towards them. 

“It can’t be.” Makoto whispers. “You can’t be here.” 

A shadow from the metaverse. 

“Makoto!” Sae screams and thanks to that warning she’s able to dodge a hit coming straight at her. 

Taking her gun out, Makoto fires four rounds into it, the bullets making the shadow stop for a couple of seconds before it started moving forward again. 

“Shit, it is not vulnerable to bullets or physical attacks.” she whispers and yet again moves out of the way when the shadow tries to attack her. 

Taking a deep breath, Makoto wasn’t certain of what to do. She only knew of one way to defeat this shadow. But, what made her not believe that a shadow could really be here was what was also preventing her from considering the possibility of summoning Anat. 

They were in the real world. 

Opening her eyes, Makoto is not quick enough to step away and gets hit by the shadow, which in turn makes her fall to the ground. Groaning at the strength of the hit, the brunette woman stands up yet again. 

“I don’t remember it hurting so much.” she chuckles bitterly while trying to remain standing. 

“We need to do something!” Sae says desperately while watching that thing hit her sister. 

“There’s nothing we can do!” Aiya responds bitterly. “That thing is clearly something supernatural. And, it is not reacting at all to the lights of the phones or to our distractions.” 

Tae simply stays quiet, watching the situation unfold. 

“Tae!” Sae screams. 

_Shit…_ Makoto thinks… _There is no way I can beat this thing without my persona._

She groans and turns around to stare at her sister who was crying and screaming for her to run away. 

_Running won’t do anything,_ Makoto thinks. 

“Please let me go!” Sae begs her girlfriend who is holding her tight. “I need to help Makoto!” 

“Don’t be stupid.” Tae whispers to her. “There’s nothing _you_ can do.” she says and then looks at Makoto. “But perhaps she can.” the older woman then raises her voice. “Will you let this thing destroy everything you have worked so hard to build, Makoto?!” 

The moment she hears those words being said by Tae, she remembered how she felt when Kaneshiro was threatening her. How he was using her sister’s reputation to get her to give him money and how humiliating it felt to be so weak. 

Was she still that person? 

**START PLAYING SONG**

“No, I am not.” Makoto whispers and then stands up. “I won’t let all our achievements and accomplishments be destroyed yet again by another evil plot that has nothing to do with me.” she promises loudly and knows her sister and friends are hearing her. 

“I WON’T ALLOW IT!” 

The moment she screams that, Makoto feels a familiar pain in her head. 

“ _Finally…_ ” she hears a familiar voice whispering inside of her. _‘It has been a while, Makoto.”_

“Anat.” Makoto says in complete pain and surprise. “I can hear you. How is that even possible?”

_“It seems that with time you have forgotten your true power, oh priestess. Power that you desperately need right now.”_

Makoto groans and merely stays quiet, trying her best to think with the pain in her head. 

_“Someone, yet again, is playing with the lives of people behind their backs. Taking advantage of the system and aiming to destroy what you have so valiantly and courageously built. Will you just stand to the side and let that happen? Will you be the same weak girl you were when we both first met?_

“No, I won’t.” Makoto seethes and stands up, noticing the way Sae, Tae and Aiya were staring at her in complete shock. “I am not that person anymore.” she continues saying determinedly and feels a familiar mask appear on her face. 

“STOP THAT!” the shadow screams at her. 

_“Then you know what you need to do to let us free. To help rid the world of this evil that is trying to destroy everything and obtain free reign yet again. But remember that once you start down this path, there is no going back.”_

“I will stop this!” she promises and takes the mask out, screaming in pain and freedom at having released that hidden part of herself. 

_“_ _I am thou, thou art I... You have yet again found your own justice... Remember...Indifference can lead to regret and regret to forget. This memorable day marks your second graduation from your past self…Reawaken to your true power! Reclaim your freedom!”_

Opening her eyes, Makoto can feel a familiar presence inside of her. Smirking, she finds herself wearing similar clothes to the ones she had used during her time as a Phantom Thief. Though this time the design was different. Instead of them being about rebelling for the sake of her freedom, these ones were about defending the freedom she had obtained long ago. 

“Makoto…” Sae says in complete shock at the person now standing in front of her. 

“She did it. She awoke her persona in the real world.” Tae whispers in complete awe. 

“You will pay for this!” she promises the shadow. “For trying to hurt my sister and my friends! For killing Officer Kanodi who was an innocent just doing her duty!” she screams. “Anat!” her persona appears. 

“Go!” she screams and launches a strong physical attack with her bike, making the shadow step away from them. 

The shadow, surprised at the sudden change in power, growls and prepares itself to hit the less powerful humans standing on the side. 

“I won’t allow it!” Makoto screams. “Anat!” she says and a shield appears to cover Sae, Tae and Aiya. “Now, our turn to attack! Atomic Flare!” she orders and a ray of nuclear energy goes straight towards the shadow, hitting it directly. 

Because of the strength of the attack, the shadow shrieks in shock and becomes instantly dust, it having no power to beat Makoto’s persona. 

The moment the fight is over, Makoto closes her eyes and feels her persona disappear. Drained, she falls to the ground and notices Sae and Tae running straight towards her and hugging her tight. 

**END OF SONG**

“Are you all alright?” Makoto asks them tiredly after confirming that the shadow was gone and that there was nothing else around them. 

_She had forgotten how exhausted one got when they unleashed their persona for the first time._

“Yes we are. All thanks to you.” Tae promises her immediately while checking her vitals. “Apart from needing some sugar in you and some bruising from those hits you got, you look fine.” 

“Thanks doc.” the brunette softly chuckles and turns to look at Aiya. “I hope that what just happened stays between the four of us?” 

“Even if I planned on betraying your trust in that way, which I certainly won’t do, no one would believe me.” Aiya tells her worriedly. “But what I just saw… It shouldn’t be possible.” 

“I know that you told me many years ago about this…” Sae says in complete shock. “But that presence that came out of you...” 

“My persona.” Makoto tells her softly. “Anat.” 

“How was it possible for you to summon her?” the silver haired woman asks even more confused than before. “I thought the only place a person could summon a persona was in the metaverse.” 

“I don’t know.” she admits. “And although it helped us escape, it also helped me confirm something that I was dreading to consider.” 

“And what’s that?” Tae asks. 

“That somehow, something from within the metaverse is involved in all of this.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I didn't want to spoil anything, but when a persona is awakened I included a part where you can start this song. It does fit really well and builds the hype in my opinion. If not interested you can just ignore the bold letters and keep reading.  
> Here's the link to the Youtube video for the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjzQXrUXuHk


	3. Going Back to Where Everything Started

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After last night's events, Makoto goes back to ask help to an old friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi All! 
> 
> This story will be updated weekly!
> 
> Thanks for reading and for the kudos :) 
> 
> Also let me know what you think!

If there was one thing Ann Takamaki could say it was that there was no place like Tokyo. Having traveled all around the world thanks to her successful modeling career, the blonde woman had the opportunity to visit and stay in many places. Yet every time she arrived to Tokyo it was as if she had just gotten truly home. 

Smiling softly, it had been a while since she had been able to come back. Ann’s agency had successfully booked her to appear on lots of photo shoots, and in order to build her repertoire, Ann had accepted all the jobs offered to her. Yet that meant that she had to travel constantly. 

Away from her home and friends. 

Lucky for her, her friends understood how passionate she was about her career and fully supported her. All of them texted her congratulation messages each time she made it on the cover of a magazine and made sure that they were available whenever she was in Japan. In fact, it had become a Phantom tradition to meet once a year to catch up with each other. But this year Ann had not been able to make it to the meeting. And because of that she had determined that she was going to surprise all her friends with a long stay. The modeling year was almost over and she was basically allowed to do whatever she wanted until the beginning of next year. 

Hence, that meant she could spend time with her family; her Phantom Thieves. 

Going through the airport terminals, Ann immediately stops moving when she sees a familiar face on one of the televisions laying around the place. 

“Makoto…” she whispers surprised at seeing her friend on the big screen. 

Perhaps it was because she had not seen Makoto in a while, but for some reason she couldn’t stop herself from thinking how good the brunette woman looked. Her skin was velvet white and her eyes still held that same determination and seriousness in them that had made Ann immediately trust the older woman. 

But thinking more about it, Makoto wasn’t the type of person that would like appearing on TV. In fact, the only reason she would willingly do so was if it had to do with her job. Getting closer to the TV, Ann is able to hear what the whole thing is about. 

_ “ _ _ My presence here today is nothing more than professional routine. The moment we find out more information, we will gladly inform the public about it. _ ” she heard TV Makoto say seriously. 

“Wow.” Ann whispers at seeing Makoto be that way. 

“ _ That was the statement given to the media by Police Commissioner Makoto Niijima.”  _ the reporter informs them. “ _ In fact, unlike her predecessors, Commissioner Niijima has shown that she likes to be more active when it comes to her presence on the field.”  _

_ “She was the first woman to get elected as Police Commissioner of the prefecture of Tokyo. And many people argue that she’s one of the best commissioners we’ve had.”  _ a female reporter informs them. 

“That’s our Makoto, alright.” Ann chuckles. 

_ “But her presence at this crime scene also makes us consider why she was even there.”  _ a guest says confidently.  _ “Although we like to believe that Tokyo is a safe city, the reality is that the police are kept constantly busy. Hence, to see the commissioner make what we assume is a routine visit… No, I believe there’s something more about this specific case.”  _

_ “Perhaps it has to do with the disappearance of that police officer a couple of days ago.”  _ the male reporter adds excitedly.  _ “It has been three days already and still no one knows her whereabouts.”  _

_ “Perhaps…”  _ the guest murmurs. 

_ “Well, that’s all for today’s late news. Be sure to tune in tomorrow morning for more news and developments regarding this story. And, thank you again, Hayashi-san, for joining us this evening.”  _

_ “It was a pleasure.”  _ the guest smiles and there is something about that smiles that doesn’t sit well with Ann. 

“Mmm…” the blonde woman says and takes a look at the time. “I am so late!” she complains. “Well, I should start heading out. Tomorrow will be a very busy day.” 

* * *

“Won’t you call them?” Makoto hears a familiar voice and turns around to see her sister sitting comfortably in one of the couches. 

After making sure that there were no other shadows in the morgue, Makoto had told Sae, Tae and Aiya to not let anyone know about what happened. She had called Aoki and Takashi and told them to hold onto the phone and take it to the IT people back at the police station as soon as they could. Hopefully that would help them get a clearer idea of Kanodi’s whereabouts before she died. The last thing Makoto wanted was to cause panic and she needed to think what she was going to do with the information she learned last night. 

A shadow from the metaverse had appeared in the real world. Somehow it had found a way to be here and that terrified Makoto. She didn’t know if this was because the cognitive and real world had converged yet again. And the only person she could think to ask this question to was Futaba. Yet she didn’t want to involve her because that would mean telling the Phantoms about the shadow. The reason why she didn't want to tell them was because she knew they would abandon everything and offer their support right away. And that loyalty from them was what was making Makoto hesitate to call them. She couldn’t do that to her friends after all the fighting and sacrifices they had made years ago. 

Not when they were so happy with their lives. 

After returning back home followed by Sae and Tae, Makoto had gone straight to bed. Her dreams, which were usually dreamless, had now been filled with images of her fighting shadows with the Phantom Thieves. 

_ Of course she had to start dreaming about them now when it seemed like shadows had entered their world.  _

“Sis.” she smiles softly. “I didn’t know you stayed the night.” 

“I was worried.” she admits. “Didn’t feel like leaving until I knew you were 100% alright.” 

“And Tae-chan?” 

“Was curious about the samples she collected with Aiya and made arrangements to meet with her to start testing them.” 

“That’s really helpful. Though I feel a little bad about having Tae-chan help with this while she also works for the university and has her clinic.” Makoto says apologetically. 

“These types of things fascinate her.” Sae chuckles. “There’s no way you would have been able to convince her of not getting involved.” she then turns serious. “Specially when it’s you the person that needs help.” 

Makoto blushes. 

“Did you sleep well? Tae said that you would be feeling exhausted when you woke up.” 

“I am tired.” Makoto confesses. “But hopefully a good meal will help improve that.” 

“More reason to call your friends and tell them about what happened last night.” 

“I don’t want to worry them.” she whispers. “Besides, the last thing I want to do is bring them into this mess. They have their own lives now.” 

“Don’t you think that telling them about this is what they would want?” Sae pushes her. 

“I wouldn’t want this for myself.” Makoto confides in her. “But I have no choice. Keeping people safe, that’s my duty to uphold. Not the Phantom Thieves.” 

Instead of getting a response, she feels her sister hugging her tight. 

“You were reckless yesterday. That thing could have killed you.” Sae whispers. “And I was incapable of doing anything about it. You fought it alone.” 

“There’s nothing you could have done.” Makoto whispers soothingly. “And besides, nothing happened to me.” 

“I couldn’t protect you!” she screams to her young sister while letting her go. “What kind of older sister am I if I am incapable of protecting the person that matters the most to me?!” she closes her eyes. “If I were to lose you…” she chokes. “I don’t know what I would do.” 

“You won’t lose me Sis.” Makoto hugs her sister back. “And, just like you protect me, I want to protect you. That’s what sisters do. We protect each other.” 

“Makoto…” 

“So stop feeling guilty about some silly bruises that had nothing to do with you.”

Sae takes a deep breath and nods, knowing that her sister was right. 

“But…” she hears the brunette whisper and looks up to see her young sister blushing. “It’s really nice to know that I matter so much to you. For a while, specially when we were younger, I sometimes thought that I was a burden to you.” she confesses. “Which I now know is not true.” she adds when she sees Sae getting ready to answer.

The silver haired woman relaxes. 

“Still, won’t you consider letting your friends know about what happened?” Sae asks calmly. 

Makoto shakes her head. 

“No one can find out.” she closes her eyes. “Although people have forgotten about what happened all those years ago, many still remember some of it. If it were to leak out that shadows can now appear and take form in the real world…” 

“I understand.” Sae tells her honestly. “It seems like the ghosts of our past are yet again haunting us. But enough about all that.” she then smiles wickedly at Makoto. “Here I am, a guest, and with nothing to eat or drink.” 

This makes Makoto open her eyes in shock. 

“I’m so sorry!” she apologizes quickly. “What would you like?” she asks and huffs when she sees her sister drinking coffee and some eggs already at the table.

Sae had cooked breakfast for them and was mocking her for not noticing. 

“This coffee is delicious.” Sae compliments her. “I swear I can never get mine to taste like this.” 

“Because you don’t buy the right beans or have the right machine to prepare your coffee. I’ve told both Tae-chan and you this many times.” Makoto starts explaining yet again and this makes the older woman laugh. 

Although Makoto at times took the weight of the world on her shoulders, deep inside she was still an excitable and innocent woman. 

The last thing Sae wanted was to watch her sister’s light diminish. 

“You weren’t listening to me at all, were you.” Makoto pouts while sitting at the table and serving herself some eggs. 

“I’m sorry.” she says apologetically. “I got distracted.” the two women then hear a phone ring. “That one’s not mine.” 

“It’s mine.” Makoto takes some quick bites and stands up to grab her phone and bring it back to the table. 

“Any news?” she answers. “Takashi and Aoki.” she mouths to Sae. “Damn it. Give me five minutes and I will call you back.” she hangs up and takes more bites from her breakfast. 

Sae stares expectantly at her. 

“Takashi and Aoki have given the phone to IT. But they say that there’s some sort of code in it that they don’t know how to crack. Apparently it’s a software that they have never seen before.” Makoto explains and drinks coffee. 

“Do you think that perhaps some sort of technology used in the metaverse was used on the phone?” Sae asks curiously. 

“That is exactly what I think.” she finishes and goes to her room and quickly changes into some casual business clothes. “I’m sorry…” 

“I know.” the silver-haired woman gives her a kind smile. “I will clean and lock on my way out. Also, don’t forget your leather jacket.” she takes it out of the closet. “I mean, we bought it so you could wear it while driving the bike.” she adds jokingly. 

Makoto smiles gratefully at her and hugs Sae tight, which makes the older woman be surprised at the sudden gesture. 

“Just like you wouldn’t know what to do if something happened to me, I also don’t know what I would do without you, Sis.” she says to Sae and breaks the hug up so she can grab the keys to her bike. 

Sae can’t stop herself from chuckling. Makoto was really adorkable when she tried to show her appreciation and care to others. 

“Thank you for breakfast!” Makoto tells her. 

“Of course. Also, I’ll let you know the moment Tae is done with testing those cells and dust from last night.” Sae promises and opens the door for her sister. “Out of curiosity, where are you headed?” 

Makoto smiles warmly at her. 

“A place where I know there is someone that will help me crack the code of that phone.” 

“Say hi to Boss for me then.” Sae says. “Does that mean then you will tell Futaba what’s going on?” 

“Not yet.” the brunette woman admits to her. “But we really need to crack this code so I’m willing to compromise on some things.” she murmurs and takes her phone out yet again, taking advantage of the walk down the stairs to make a phone call. 

_ “Boss…”  _ she hears Aoki’s voice.  _ “What do you need?”  _

“Are you still in possession of the phone?” she asks him. 

_ “Yes. We haven’t logged it in yet. Once the guys at IT told us that they couldn’t crack it we started thinking about who could do it.”  _

“I know someone.” Makoto tells him while sitting on her bike. “Meet me at this place with the phone.” she sends him an address. 

_ “LeBlanc?”  _ Aoki asks to confirm. 

“Yes. I will be there in twenty minutes.” 

_ “Understood.”  _

Hanging up, Makoto opens her text app and looks for a very familiar contact. 

**Makoto:** Need help. Will be at LeBlanc in 20 mins. 

**Futaba:** Understood. I’ll have curry ready. You better bring some goods too. 

Smirking, Makoto puts her phone away and takes her helmet out, making sure of placing it on her head carefully because of her ribs being bruised. 

“Guess that means I’ll have to make a stop at the convenience store.” she murmurs and drives away, careful of thinking about the best way to get Futaba to help her without actually telling her what it was about. 

* * *

_ I swear this place looks the same…  _ Ann thinks with a smile on her face. 

Walking around Yongenya, it was easy for Ann to remember her youth. She spent most of her high school years walking around these streets, meeting with the Phantoms at Cafe LeBlanc for a cup of good coffee or Boss’ awesome curry. She can’t help but smile when reminiscing about the many meetings they had in Akira’s room and the planned infiltrations and explorations of mementos. 

It made Ann get a little nostalgic. 

Nostalgic enough to go through a known pathway that would most certainly take her to that small yet so perfect coffee shop. 

Getting to the entrance of LeBlanc, she stops herself from going in when she sees two men in suits waiting outside the place, clearly anxious about being there to begin with. 

It wasn’t very common to see men that obviously looked like policemen outside the shop. 

“I wonder when Boss will get here.” one of them says to the other. “We look very suspicious just standing outside.” 

“I told you we could go in to get a cup of coffee while we wait.” 

“Didn’t you understand that the Boss wanted us out of the way for this? That’s why she told us she was getting the phone from us and not waiting for us to meet with her back at the station.” 

“I guess that is true.” he murmurs and stops talking when he sees Ann watching them. “Forgive us, do you need something?” 

This makes Ann chuckle. 

“Well, I need to step inside this shop. Wasn’t really able to do so with two very obvious policemen standing near the door.” 

This makes the two men blush brightly. 

“We apologize!” they say immediately and give Ann space to walk in. “We just forgot to step away from the door when no one came to the store.” 

“My win, their loss then. This store has the best coffee in the city.” Ann promises them and goes through, making sure of not taking her sunglasses off until she was safely inside. 

Although she wasn’t expecting people in this area to recognize her, the last thing she wanted was to have to write autographs and pose for pictures. 

“Would you look at that!” she notices Sojiro behind the counter with a bright smile on his face. “If it isn’t Ann-chan herself!” 

“Boss!” Ann says happily and hugs him tight. “It’s so great to see you. You are looking marvelous.” 

“Now stop lying.” he chuckles. “The one that looks more beautiful each time I see her is you.” he moves to the back to prepare her a coffee. “Tell me, when did you get back to Tokyo? Futaba didn’t mention to me that you were in the city.” 

“I just got here last night. I wanted to surprise everyone and that’s why I didn’t tell them. I plan on visiting them in the next couple of days.” Ann says excitedly. 

“They’ll love it.” Sojiro brings the coffee to her and watches her take a careful swig. 

“This is the best coffee I have ever had.” the blonde model promises him. “And I’ve had lots of them.” 

Sojiro laughs loudly. 

“Makes me happy to hear you say that.” he gets comfortable in front of her. “Futaba will be coming around soon.” 

“I can’t wait to see her.” she says honestly. “By the way, why are those two policemen standing outside the door? They said they were waiting for their boss to get here.” 

This makes Sojiro chuckle. 

“They’re harmless.” he promises her. “And guessing for whom they work for, that must be why Futaba told me to make extra curry.” he says mostly to himself. 

Before Ann can ask him what that is about, they hear the bell of the store chime and see a very excited Futaba coming in. 

“Sojiro!” she exclaims happily. “Why are Detectives Conan 1 and 2 standing awkwardly outside? I swear they stand out like sore thumbs.” she stops talking when she notices Ann sitting on the stool. 

“It seems like they are waiting for their boss to get here.” the old man chuckles when he sees the way his adopted daughter has frozen in complete shock. “Well, let me go get you two some curry since I made a lot today.” he leaves them alone. 

“Futaba-chan?” Ann says carefully. 

“You’re here…” the hacker murmurs confused. 

“Surprise?” Ann asks and is now regretting her decision to not let her friends know that she was coming. 

“ANN-CHAN!” Futaba shrieks suddenly and runs towards her to hug her tight. “What are you doing here?! I thought that you were really busy because of your job and that you wouldn’t be able to come until next year’s meeting.” 

“Surprise!” Ann repeats brightly and returns the hug. “I just missed you all so much and decided to visit.” 

“Will it be a short visit or a long visit?” the younger woman asks her and it makes Ann remember how Futaba was the first time they met her. 

She had come such a long way since those days. 

“It will be a long one.” Ann promises her. “I will be sticking around for a while.” 

Futaba smiles even more than before. 

“That’s awesome! There is just so much I want to show you!” she then pouts at Sojiro who had just returned with their dishes. “Why didn’t you tell me that she was here?” 

“She just got here.” Sojiro chuckles. “Besides, I was making sure that your order was ready.” 

“That’s right…” Futaba smirks and sits down next to Ann while taking a bite. “She’s on her way as well.” 

Taking a bite from her curry, Ann can’t stop herself from moaning. 

“Boss this is so good!” she exclaims and starts eating even faster. 

“Best curry ever!” Futaba agrees. “And your presence here will only make it even better for her.” she cackles. 

“She, who are you talking about? Have you made some new friends Futaba-chan?” Ann asks her curiously and yet again her question is left unanswered because of the voices coming from outside. 

“ _ Really?”  _ they hear an exasperated woman say.  _ “Couldn’t you just wait inside for me? Instead you have to be standing here looking all suspicious and scary?”  _

_ “We apologize!”  _ the men that had talked to her earlier said. 

_ “I’ve had people approach me to ask me what this is about.”  _ she groans embarrassed.  _ “Seriously…”  _

_ “We apologize!”  _ they repeat and for some reason Ann can’t stop herself from chuckling. 

Futaba laughs as well. 

“I swear she doesn’t need to say much to terrorize them.” she chuckles. “Seems she hasn’t lost her touch.” 

“I mean, I did ask them if they wanted to get a coffee and wait inside.” Sojiro adds. 

Confused, Ann is ready to ask them who the hell they are talking about. Nevertheless, the bell chimes yet again and the door opens, the two detectives from outside coming in with an apologetic look on their faces followed by the most beautiful woman Ann had ever seen. 

_ Makoto…  _ she thinks while watching the way the brunette woman confidently walked behind them, an apologetic and embarrassed look on her face as well. 

“Boss. I apologize if they caused you any troubles.” she says immediately. “I wouldn’t have thought that they would just stand outside your store, scaring people away.” 

“Now, now Makoto. You know no one comes here around this time.” he smirks. “You can relax gentlemen, in fact, how about you take that cup I offered you earlier?” 

The two men stare questioningly at Makoto, who nods. 

“We would be honored.” one of them says. “One of the customers that came in said that this was the best coffee in the city.” 

“I’ll correct that statement.” Ann says smiling and notices how Makoto realizes that there is someone else in the store. “Best coffee in the world.” she then stands up and goes towards the two men, who stare curiously at her. 

Moving past them, she can’t stop herself from blushing when she sees the way Makoto is dressed. Jeans that fit the brunette woman really well, had been accentuated by a black leather jacket that only made her look more hot and bad-ass than she had ever been. 

Who could really blame Ann for blushing? 

“It has been a while, Mako-chan.” she says softly and notices the way the older woman checks her out.

_ Interesting…  _ Ann thinks happily. 

“Ann-chan…” Makoto whispers completely shocked and moves forward so she can stand in front of the blonde. “You’re here? When did you arrive?” 

“Last night.” she smiles and grabs her friend’s hands. “It’s so nice to see you.” 

_ So soft…  _ she thinks…  _ And that leather jacket!  _

“I can’t believe you’re here.” Makoto murmurs and squeezes her hands as if to confirm that this is not a figment of her imagination. “You’re really here…” 

They both hear Futaba snickering in the back.

Ready to add something else, Ann is surprised when she feels Makoto hugging her tight. 

“I have missed you  _ so much _ .” the brunette whispers and the way she said those words made something within Ann stir. 

It had been so long since she felt this way. 

Since her high school years with the Phantom Thieves. 

“Me too.” she promises and separates from Makoto, who tries to hide she’s in pain but Ann can see right through her. “I have so much to tell you. Also, did something happen? You look like you’re hurting.”

“Pushed it a little while doing Aikido.” she chuckles and hears more snickering, which makes her remember the real reason why she’s here. "Also, I brought you some cupcakes." she gives them to Futaba who smiles and takes them. "But you can only eat them after you have your lunch." 

This makes Futaba pout and Ann and Sojiro to chuckle. 

Staring at the two policemen behind them and remembering that Futaba had been waiting for a woman to arrive, Ann realizes that the fact that Makoto had come to LeBlanc probably had to do with some police business that required Futaba’s hacking skills. 

“Raincheck?” she says knowingly and gets an apologetic smile from Makoto. 

“Crepes.” the brunette tells her with a soft blush that Ann immediately feels on her face as well. “Just like we used to do when we were younger. Tonight, 8:30pm sound good?” 

“Can’t wait.” Ann gives her a bright smile and goes back to the counter, leaving some change on it. “I know mine is on the house.” she says to Sojiro. “But I feel a little bad about scaring Makoto’s officers earlier. Hence, please drink a cup of the best coffee in the world on my behalf.” she smirks at them and winks at Makoto, who smiles warmly at her. 

“I’ll text you when I’m done.” the brunette promises her. “And you two, say thank you to Takamaki-san for covering your coffee.” 

“Thank you Takamaki-san!” both men say quickly and that makes Ann laugh even louder. 

“You’re welcome.” she then looks at Futaba. “Let’s do some shopping in Akihabara when you have some free time?” 

Futaba nods. 

“Don’t worry, after I’m sure you’ve had your date with Mako-chan I’ll text you.” she winks at her and that only makes her blush. 

“Well… I should be going.” she stutters a little because of her embarrassment. “Thank you for the coffee and curry Boss.” 

Sojiro smiles at her. 

“You will always be welcomed here Ann-chan. Come back whenever you want.” he tells. 

Nodding, Ann stares at Makoto one last time and heads out of the shop, making sure of swaying her hips a little bit while doing so. 

Closing her eyes once she’s away from LeBlanc, the blonde can’t stop thinking about what had just happened inside the store. 

She had just flirted with Makoto! And, it seemed like Makoto had flirted back! 

To be honest, she had always found Makoto beautiful. Not only was the brunette woman intelligent and dedicated but she also had an amazing body. That, as well as her strong will and her matching charisma, made Makoto irresistible in the eyes of Ann. But growing up in such a conservative country and having not seen any other women dating each other; had made Ann question herself and her desires. She had assumed that what she felt was just admiration for her senpai and not something deeper. 

Instead, she had tried to be in a relationship with Akira; one in which feelings of loneliness and true friendship had gotten confused with love. Lucky for them, once Ann started getting more jobs outside of Japan and started seeing people of the same gender dating each other, it made her realize that there was nothing wrong with her. 

So, after many months of consideration and self-reflection, she told Akira her true feelings. And Akira, just as she expected of him, understood completely how she felt and wished her the best of luck. 

But no one she had tried dating afterwards did it for her. There was something about them that was lacking or too much. None of them were balanced. 

And now that she was back in Japan it was so simple to see why no one had gotten her attention before. 

They were not Makoto. 

A Makoto who clearly owned a bike that was now parked on the outside bike lot of LeBlanc. 

“Damn.” Ann whispers. “I’m in trouble.” 

* * *

After watching Makoto blush and wave goodbye to Ann, Futaba had seen the way her demeanor completely changed, it becoming instantly serious. 

Telling the men to head back to the station, the brunette woman had closed the door of the coffee shop almost as if she was expecting someone to spy on them. A little worried now, the hacker noticed Makoto taking a phone out of her jacket, the brunette quickly giving it to Futaba who immediately started inspecting it. 

“Interesting. And your IT guys said that this phone had a code that they had never seen before?” Futaba plugs the phone into one of her old computers. 

“That’s what they told us.” Makoto explains to her. 

“And they’re not wrong.” she responds while typing quickly. “It seems like this virus is designed so that the moment you plug it in a computer it makes the computer lose all its information.” 

“Futaba I’m so sorry.” Makoto starts apologizing but stops when Futaba simply smiles at her. 

“I suspected something like that and used an old computer of mine. But it’s fascinating to see this type of encryption. How complex it is.” she stares seriously at her. “Yet you won’t tell me where you got this phone.” 

“I’m afraid I can’t since it’s from an ongoing investigation.” 

“I could just find out myself.” Futaba pouts. 

“You wouldn’t break my trust like that.” Makoto smiles kindly at her. “But what I can tell you is that the information inside this phone is paramount to my current investigation.” 

“Basically you really need me to unlock this phone.” 

Makoto looks down. 

“I don’t know who else to ask.” she confesses. “This is the only lead we have; if there is even a lead inside the phone.” 

“Based on the way they protected it, I’m assuming there must be something here.” she turns the computer off. “Alright, I’m hooked. Give me two days to try to crack it.” 

“Thank you.” Makoto tells her happily. 

“Though I can’t promise you anything. I really haven’t seen a code like this ever.” she murmurs the last part. 

“That’s alright. Hopefully you’ll be able to crack it.” 

“We’ll see.” the ginger woman smirks and this makes Makoto stare at her confused. 

“Why are you smirking like that?” 

“Really? You won’t admit to the puppy eyes and longing looks you were giving Ann?” 

“Futaba!” Makoto says embarrassed. “It’s not like that at all. And I don’t do puppy eyes.” 

“Don’t even try to deny it. She was flirting with you and you were flirting with her.” 

“But…” the brunette says softly. “She was with Akira.” 

“Akira himself told you to go for it! When she couldn’t make it to the meeting three months ago and we got you drunk enough to tell us what had you feeling so down; he wished you luck and even told you about some chocolates Ann liked. "

Makoto only remains silent. 

“Come on Makoto, don’t stop yourself from getting what you want. I mean, don’t you want to see if maybe there’s something there that wasn’t there before?” 

“Did you really just quote Beauty and the Beast on me?” the brunette asks amused. 

“You three were the ones that got me to watch all those Disney movies during our girls’ nights out.” Futaba says embarrassed. 

Makoto chuckles. 

“Thank you Futaba. I really needed this.” 

“Is work being stressful?” she asks seriously. “I heard about the police officer that went missing.” 

Makoto nods. 

“We have no clues regarding her case. And soon I’m going to be questioned for answers.” 

Futaba understands then to which case the phone belonged to. 

“Maybe soon you’ll get lucky and find something that will crack the case open.” 

Makoto smiles. 

“I hope so too.” she then finishes drinking her coffee and eating her curry. “Please thank Boss for the coffee and curry. And tell him I feel bad about having him leave his own coffee shop.” 

“Don’t worry, don’t worry!” Futaba appeases her. “He takes advantage of these breaks to go get some cigarettes.” she then smirks. “Besides, we wouldn’t want him to know about your crush.” 

“Futaba!” 

“Just you wait until I tell Haru about this crepe date.” she whispers evilly. 

“What did you just say?” 

‘I said that if you don’t get out of here and change then you won’t be able to go to your crepe date.” 

Makoto looks at the clock on the wall. 

“Shit.” she says and grabs her bike’s keys. “I need to go home to take a shower. And what will I even wear?” 

“I’m sure that Ann will love you in anything you choose to wear. Even more in nothing.” Futaba cackles. 

“Futaba! If I had time I would kill you.” 

“Is that the way a police commissioner should speak to a citizen?” 

“That’s the way I speak to annoying little sisters.” she huffs and watches the way Futaba smiles at that. “Now, be honest. Should I really be doing this?” 

“Why shouldn’t you?” Futaba tells her seriously. “And, what’s there to lose?” 

“You’re right.” Makoto smiles. “Thank you, Futaba!” she starts heading out of the coffee shop. 

“Anytime!” the ginger woman tells her brightly. “Also, maybe wear that leather jacket tonight! It seemed like Ann really liked it!” 

“Got it!” Makoto screams and closes the door. 

Now alone in the store, Futaba takes a look at the phone that was on the table beside her. 

“Now then... Let’s see what you’re trying to hide.” she snickers. “That way I can get Makoto here sooner to tell me about her date.” 


	4. Just Like Old Times

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Makoto starts panicking about her date and asks Sae for help. Ann, meanwhile, is also feeling nervous about going out with Makoto.   
> But things are never simple when it involves the Phantom Thieves...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back with a new chapter!
> 
> Link to use when START SONG appears: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjzQXrUXuHk

Defense attorney Sae Niijima was a very busy woman. Her mornings were spent in her office reviewing cases and her evenings were shared between spending time with Makoto or her girlfriend. Unfortunately, because of the events of the previous day, her workload had almost tripled. But, she would never regret putting her sister first. She had failed to do so in the past and had almost lost her and herself because of that. 

She was not going to repeat the same mistake.

Her phone chimes and Sae is distracted enough to hear it. 

**Makoto:** S.O.S

Looking away from her court documents, Sae grabs her phone and reads Makoto’s text, which immediately makes her worry. Getting ready to call her, she receives another one. 

**Makoto:** I have nothing to wear! What am I going to do?!” 

This makes Sae relax and then chuckle, realizing that her sister was currently experiencing a confidence crisis. Even though Makoto could seem so confident and powerful, when it came to things like friends and dates she was quite the opposite. 

_ Dates…  _

_ Could this mean then that…  _

Getting up from her desk, Sae takes a look at the long pile of papers that she still has to revise. Knowing that she couldn’t take more time off, she is a little disappointed when she determines that she won’t be able to go help Makoto get ready for her apparent date. 

But… She knows someone who is free at the moment. 

Taking her phone she makes a call. 

“You busy?” she asks. 

_ “Depends on why you’re asking…”  _ Tae says cheekily to her.  _ “Though if I remember correctly, weren’t you the one who said that you definitely had to go to the office to work?”  _

Sae chuckles. 

“And I am working.” she promises her girlfriend. “But I got a text from Makoto saying that she didn’t have any clothes to wear and S.O.S.” 

This makes Tae laugh. 

_ “Does that mean that Makoto has a date?”  _ she asks amused.  _ “Alright. I’ll go help her get ready and to find out who she will be seeing.”  _

“I knew I could count on you.” Sae smiles. “Try to find out as much as you can so you tell me when I get home.” 

_ “Alright. But you’ll owe me another favor.”  _ the bluenette says seductively.  _ “Yay me.”  _

“I’ll let you collect one the moment I get home.” she promises. “Now go before Makoto has a heart attack.” 

_ “With that type of incentive I am already on my way.”  _ Tae teases her.  _ “Talk to you later. Love you.”  _

“Love you too.” Sae says and hangs up. 

**Sae:** Help is on the way. 

**Makoto:** Thank you! Thank you! You’re the best sister ever. 

**Sae:** Don’t think I won’t be asking you any questions about this date. 

**Makoto:** I promise I’ll share.

Closing her text app, Sae smiles and leaves her phone on the side, wanting to focus on the remaining documents that she had to revise. 

The sooner she got done, the sooner she would get to hear from her girlfriend everything about Makoto’s date. 

* * *

Going through her wardrobe in only a towel, Makoto was close to panicking. She had wanted to take a bath the moment she arrived home but instead had to handle some calls from Takashi and Aoki, who were on the field trying to get some leads from people close to Officer Kanodi. From what those two had been able to find out, Kanodi didn’t have any known enemies. She had just started living in Tokyo and her partner said that she was very serious and focused on her job. 

**_Flashback to Earlier that Day_ **

“What did you find out?” she asks Aoki who had talked to Kanodi’s partner. 

_ “Officer Yokozuna said that Kanodi had just been promoted and that it was her first time patrolling at night. Also that although there were some in their unit that looked down on Kanodi, none of them were directly disrespectful or rude to her.”  _

“Unfortunately that’s to be expected when women join the force.” Makoto huffs. “I experienced it as well when I first joined.” 

_ “He said that Kanodi just ignored them and continued doing her job. Takashi checked her exams and she was on the top percent of her class. She had the potential to be a really good cop.”  _ Aoki says sadly.  _ “Though there’s one thing that made me curious. During her last night shift there was a strange incident that involved Kanodi.”  _ he adds. “ _ Apparently Kanodi heard some screams coming from an alleyway and she requested backup. Her partner and her had separated and she went ahead to find out what was happening. When her partner met up with her, he found Kanodi all by herself and nobody in the area. Seems like she got confused and it was a false alarm.”  _ he continues explaining.  _ “Takashi checked at the station and there is a radio call made by Kanodi about the alert. But it was cancelled when her partner arrived. Rookie nervousness?”  _

“Perhaps. Though what are the odds of Kanodi making a mistake like that just before she goes missing?” Makoto wonders. “I want you to keep an eye on Officer Yokozuna because I may want to talk to him again once we know a little more about what happened.” 

_ “Understood.”  _

“Good job you two. All we can do for now is wait until we hear back about the test results or the phone. I want you to relax and get some rest. But also, ask dispatch to pass to you any phone calls that seem strange.” 

_ “Strange in what way?”  _ Aoki asks. 

“Strange as in something that we normally wouldn’t take seriously. Supernatural type.” she clarifies. “With the way we found Kanodi’s body, we are starting to believe there’s an occult/supernatural element to the case.” 

_ “That does make some sense.”  _ he responds.  _ “Okay, I will update Takashi and get him to make dispatch pass their strange calls to us.”  _

“Thank you.” Makoto says. “Now then, get some rest because once we get those results back we won’t be able to take a break.” she finishes and hangs up. 

**_End of Flashback_ **

Because of that phone call, Makoto was now realizing that whatever time she had allocated for finding clothes to wear had diminished. 

So, with arrays of clothes laying on her bed, Makoto wasn’t sure about what she was going to do. 

But one thing was certain. 

She was excited and nervous about seeing Ann again. 

Though this felt more like a date rather than just hanging out with a good friend. 

During their time as Phantom Thieves, Makoto had developed a crush on Ann. She had not acted on it during their youth because she had seen the away Ann and Akira were close. So when the two of them started dating each other, that had just made the brunette woman try to accept that her crush was going to remain unrequited. 

Unlike others who would have panicked at realizing that they liked people of the same sex, Makoto was confident in herself and her desires. Hence, when she realized that she liked Ann as more than a friend, it wasn’t as if she had an identity crisis. It was more so the fact that she had fallen for a woman that was dating her best friend what made her feel awful about herself. 

Determined to not let her feelings ruin her friendships, Makoto remained focused on her studies and on being a good mentor for the Phantoms. And luckily, when she had to go to college, Ann was also leaving the country because of her modeling contracts. 

Which meant that they only saw each other a couple of times a year. 

But this year Ann had missed their yearly Phantom reunion. And Makoto, who had finally stopped feeling so guilty about liking Ann, had been looking forward to seeing the blonde. Not because she was planning to confess or something like that. Maybe it was the fact that it had been a long time since Ann and Akira had been together what allowed Makoto to finally let loose and re-experience all the feelings she had repressed during her youth. 

Which led to her getting completely wasted and to confess to all her friends, Akira included, that she had a crush on Ann. 

Just remembering that night made Makoto blush and feel mortified. 

Lucky for her, she was distracted out of her thoughts by the sound of her doorbell. 

Relieved, she goes ahead to open the door, watching Tae stare at her with an amused look on her face. 

“You called?” the bluenette asks cheekily. 

“You’re my S.O.S?” Makoto asks worriedly. “What about my test results from those samples you took last night and this morning?” 

“Still waiting for them. Even with Dr. Suzuki pushing those samples first we still have to wait for the lab to return the results. Nothing I can do about that.” Tae shrugs. “I thought you were going to be more excited about seeing me. Specially because of this.” she shows Makoto some clothes that she had brought over from her apartment. 

“I take it back. You’re a lifesaver!” Makoto says gratefully and pulls Tae in. “I am panicking.”

“I can see that.” the older woman chuckles. “This is really unlike you, Mako-chan.” 

Makoto simply pouts and invites the woman into her room. 

“I know!” she exclaims. “I mean, look at this mess.” 

Tae sees a number of clothes laying on the ground and bed, and even though it wasn’t as big of a mess as Makoto had made it sound like; it was still messy enough to be an anti-Makoto behavior. 

“For you I will have to admit that this is messy.” Tae admits. “For people that are not you, this type of mess is normal.” 

Makoto huffs. 

“Now is not the time to be funny Tae-chan. Help me find something to wear.” 

“I will do so. Not only did I promise your sister I would help you but I’m also getting rewarded for it.” she smirks. 

“I’m not interested in that part of your relationship with my sister.” Makoto says quickly. 

“Yet I am interested in who you’re going out on a date with. You tend to be very selective when choosing partners and I have never seen you be in a relationship.” 

This makes the brunette woman stop talking and just stand still for a while. 

“This date is really special.” she confesses. “Almost feels like a second chance.” 

Tae simply watches Makoto, realizing that this was the first time that she had seen her act this way. 

Whomever the person Makoto was going on a date with was very important. 

And that only makes Tae be more interested. 

“Then we should make sure you look spectacular for it.” Tae tells her kindly and takes Makoto to the mirror. “Though there is not much to improve. You are beautiful inside and out. The person dating you is certainly lucky.” 

“Thank you Tae-chan.” Makoto blushes brightly. “Though I think your opinion may be a little biased since you’re dating my sister. You need to be on my good side.” she jokes. 

Tae laughs loudly. 

“You Niijima women are certainly something.” she pulls Makoto out of the restroom. “Now let’s hurry, we don’t want you to be late to your date.” 

* * *

Walking around the underground walkway, Ann can’t help herself from checking her appearance in one of the many mirrors around the place. She had been so nervous about selecting her clothes. Not because she was worried about not looking good. Ann knew she was beautiful and had embraced her looks as a part of herself. 

Still, she had a needed a little motivational talk before being able to go out of her place. 

**_Flashback to Earlier that Evening_ **

_ “You’re in Japan and you just happened to mention this to me now?”  _ Haru tells her upset through the phone.  _ “What kind of person doesn’t let her friends know that she’s here?”  _

“I wanted it to be a surprise.” Ann pouts. “But that wasn’t why I was calling you. I need your help.” 

This makes Haru stop scolding her. 

“ _ You know that you can count on me for whichever you may need.”  _

“I have a date tonight and I don’t know what to wear or how whatever I end up choosing to wear will be interpreted. And because this date is really important I don’t want to give a wrong impression. In fact, I’ve been waiting so long for this date that I can’t mess it up.” she says rapidly. 

“ _ Go back a little bit.”  _ Haru says confused through the phone.  _ “You said you have a date tonight? With who? Didn’t you say that you just got back last night?”  _

This makes Ann blush brightly. 

“With Mako-chan. I have a date with Mako-chan.” 

This makes Haru shriek excitedly on the other side of the line. 

_ “That’s so wonderful Ann-chan! I’m so happy for you.”  _

“But what if I mess things up?” she worries. “What if Makoto doesn’t see this as a date and I make a fool of myself?” 

“ _ Trust me darling, she sees this as a date as well.”  _ Haru promises her.  _ “I believe the real issue here is that there’s something that’s making you feel nervous about tonight. And what I want to know is what that is? You’re usually very confident in things like this.”  _

“It has always looked like that because I haven’t cared much the other times I’ve gone on dates. But this one really matters, Haru. Makoto has always been important.”  __

_ “Well then…”  _ the older woman tells her warmly.  _ “If you make your intentions to Makoto clear, I’m confident she’ll see how you feel. More than the clothes or the way you look, think of the best way to convey to that sometimes oblivious woman your intentions. Which are?”  _

“I want to try having a relationship with her.” Ann says determined. “I want to try dating her.” 

_ “Then go get her Panther.”  _

**_End of Flashback_ **

Ann wanted this date to be a good one. She wanted to show Makoto that she was invested and interested in her. Hence, she wanted to look her best for the brunette.

So with some comfortable black jeans and a very fitting and formal shirt, Ann had headed out towards their crepe spot. After the two had apologized to each other for the things they said during Kamoshida’s incident, they had started to have what they called ‘crepe dates’. And little by little, the two of them had gotten close. 

And then Ann started dating Akira. 

Thinking about it, that was the exact moment Makoto had started creating some distance between the two of them. Saying that she was busy with school or having to cancel her plans with Makoto because of a sudden date with Akira, Ann had seen her deep friendship become more stagnant. 

Specially when she left Japan and went to other parts of the world for most of the year.

Hence today’s date needed to show Makoto that she wanted this. 

That Ann was ready to share with the brunette woman her true feelings. 

Determined, Ann is ready to go to the underground mall in Shibuya station before she hears some screams coming from the other side of the station. 

Running towards it in order to help, Ann freezes when she sees a homeless man being swallowed by another one. 

And by swallowed she meant as in the man was devoured by the other one right in front of her. 

Trying her best to not make a sound, Ann starts moving away from the scene, knowing that there was nothing she could do about it. 

Except call the cops. 

Hiding behind some trash cans in a corner of the secluded section of the station, Ann takes her phone out and dials 119. 

“ _ 119 what’s your…”  _

“I’m in the underground walkway of Shibuya station and I just saw a man eat someone. He’s dressed as a homeless person and has a yellow beanie with blue jeans and an old black jacket.” Ann whispers worriedly while keeping an eye on the noises coming from in front of her. 

_ “Did you just say eat?”  _ the dispatcher asks her surprised. 

“That’s what I saw!” Ann whispers. “I promise I’m not making this up.” 

_ “Police are on the way, ma’am. Where are you at the moment?”  _

“Hiding behind some trash cans. I don’t think he has heard me.” she whispers to the man. 

_ “Don’t hang up. Is there a way for you to run or walk to safety without being seen or heard?”  _

Ann closes her eyes and turns around to see where the man was. Shocked, she realizes that he is gone and so is the body. 

“I can’t see him.” she says hysterically and screams when she feels someone pushing her away from her hiding spot. 

_ “Ma’am? Ma’am!”  _

“Someone has been naughty.” the homeless man tells her with an evil smirk on his face. “Preventing me from enjoying my snack because of her annoying whispering.” 

“Let me go you monster!” Ann screams and hits the man on his face with her foot, immediately standing up and running away to the streets. 

“Foolish move.” the man says darkly and breaks Ann’s phone with his foot. “Foolish move.” 

* * *

Groaning, Detectives Takashi and Aoki were exhausted from following leads and performing interviews during the whole day. 

“I hate this case.” Aoki says bitterly while drinking some tea. “We have gone through all the evidence so many times and yet nothing pops up. We have nothing.” 

“Hopefully that hacker Boss knows will be able to unlock the phone.” Takashi takes a bite of his sandwich. “Until then, we need to keep a lookout on anything that seems out of the ordinary so we can report it to Boss.” 

“That did sound a little strange when Boss said it.” Aoki murmurs. “I mean, there are some strange people in Tokyo. But she was very vague about what kind of report she was looking for.” 

“I guess we’ll know it when we hear it.” Takashi shrugs and continues eating. 

“Detectives!” an assistant comes in. “Sorry to interrupt you during your break but you told us to come find you if we received any strange calls to the 119 line. We believe we just got one.” 

Walking to the command room with the assistant, Takashi and Aoki start listening to the recorded call, opening their eyes in suspicion when they hear the strange report. 

Usually they would have ignored something like this and take it as a prank. But with everything that had happened and the fact that there was something about that voice and the way the man reacted to the woman... That made the two detectives determine that they had to call their boss. 

“Guess I’ll go ahead and make that call.” Aoki says simply and starts calling his boss. 

Hopefully this was the right move and wouldn’t get them in trouble with Commissioner Niijima. 

* * *

_ I wonder where Ann is…  _ Makoto thinks while looking at her watch. 

The two of them had agreed to meet at 8 and it was almost 8:30pm. Because she knew that Ann was a little relaxed when it came to the time, Makoto had not been too worried about it. Besides, it gave her time to mentally prepare. 

Yet this was uncommon. Ann would have texted her to let her know about her delay and yet she had not received any messages from her. And, when she tried calling the blonde woman, her call went straight to voicemail. 

_ Could it be that she started to regret this? _

Before she can focus more on these negative feelings, Makoto hears her phone ring and answers it immediately thinking it’s Ann. 

“Ann?” she says quickly. 

“ _ Sorry Boss, it’s Aoki. Am I calling you at a bad time?”  _

“No.” Makoto says disappointed. “What happened?.” 

_ “Dispatch just got a strange call that we thought you may want to listen.”  _

“Put it through.” Makoto says and waits for Aoki to connect her to the server. 

“ _ 119 what’s your…”  _

“ _ I’m in the underground walkway of Shibuya station and I just saw a man eat someone. He’s dressed as a homeless person and has a yellow beanie with blue jeans and an old black jacket. _ ” 

The moment Makoto hears that familiar voice she immediately stands up from the table and runs out of the store. 

That was Ann’s voice. 

_ “Did you just say eat?”  _ the dispatcher asks her surprised. 

_ “That’s what I saw! I promise you I’m not making this up. _ ” 

Taking out her bike keys, Makoto quickly starts it while using her radio in her bike to call Aoki so she could still listen to the recording. 

“I want you to send a small team to that location right away!” she orders him while driving through the streets of Tokyo. “Armed and prepared for a dangerous hostage situation. And I want you two to lead it.” 

_ “Yes Boss.” _ Aoki says solemnly. 

_ “I don’t think he has heard me.” _ Makoto can hear the fear in Ann’s voice. 

“I’m coming Ann.” she promises to herself and accelerates more. 

_ “I can’t see him.”  _

_ “Ma’am? Ma’am!”  _

“The person on the phone was Takamaki, who you two met earlier.” she says to Aoki through her radio as she accelerates her bike. 

_ “Fuck.”  _ she hears Aoki say. “ _ Takashi and I are almost at the scene. Reinforcements coming as well.” _

Waiting for more updates, Makoto can’t stop herself from worrying about Ann. Why was it that whenever they wanted to focus on themselves and their lives, something like this happens? 

She hated it. 

_ “Takashi and I arrived to the coordinates dispatch sent us. There’s no one here but we found a broken phone. Maybe Takamaki’s.”  _

“Then that probably means she ran away.” Makoto murmurs. “I want you to start looking around for any people that fit their descriptions and the moment you see them determine if you can intervene.” 

_ “Got it boss.”  _ Aoki says seriously.  _ “What about you?”  _

“I’ll continue scouting the area around the walkway.” she says solemnly. “Maybe they’re somewhere inside.” 

Worried out of her mind, Makoto doesn’t care about the trouble she’ll get into later and decides to go through the walkway in her motorcycle. Driving it through the busy pathway, she hears many people screaming in surprise at her actions. 

_ “Someone has been naughty. Preventing me from enjoying my snack because of her annoying screams.”  _

_ “Let me go you monster!”  _

Following the trail to where Ann had said she was, Makoto notices that there was nothing there. No sign of the victim, the homeless man or Ann. Yet there was a black mark on the floor. As if something had purposely been standing there and made it. 

Something like the black dust that the shadow she destroyed last night left. 

“Shit!” she screams and drives away from the scene, hopefully taking the path that Ann must have probably used to escape. “Please, please let me be on time.” she begs and hears screams coming from a couple of streets away. 

Driving her bike faster than she had ever done before, Makoto arrives to a street with no exit to see Ann shaking and screaming at the sight of the man preventing her from leaving. 

“I told you I would find you.” the man chuckles and Makoto doesn’t hesitate to fire a shot in his shoulder, taking advantage of his shock to run him over with her bike. Feeling his body move to the side, Makoto gets off and uses herself to separate the blonde from him. 

“Makoto!” Ann screams in complete relief and hugs her tight. “You found me.” 

“I’m sorry I’m late.” she apologizes and kisses the blonde on her cheek. 

“ARGRGRG.” the man screams and turns around to see her.

“What? How is he still moving as if nothing happened?” Ann asks shocked. “You just shot and crashed him with your bike!” 

“He’s no ordinary human.” Makoto says bitterly and they watch the man contort in pain to put his body back in its correct position. 

“YOU!” he says to Makoto. “YOU WERE THE ONE THAT KILLED HUMAT!” the man growls in complete anger. “I WILL MAKE YOU PAY.” 

“You can try.” Makoto says while stepping forward and concentrating on her emotions. “Anat!” she screams and her persona appears behind her. 

“Makoto…” Ann whispers in complete awe. “Your persona. She’s back.” 

Makoto gives her a sad smile and that’s when Ann understands what this man in front of them really is. 

“He’s a shadow.” she says dejectedly and Makoto nods in confirmation. 

“FIGHT!” the shadow yells and throws a physical attack that the brunette woman avoids. 

“Anat!” Makoto screams and an array of nuclear power heads straight towards the creature, who smirks and absorbs it. 

“Thank you! I needed a little lift-me-up.” he cackles. “Now my turn.” he throws psychic attacks to her and the brunette can feel them slowing her down. 

“Mako-chan!” Ann says worriedly. 

“I’m alright.” she promises. 

“He just absorbed your powers. You know you’re not alright!” the blonde says hysterically. 

Makoto chuckles. 

“You’re right. Odds are that I will not win this one. Because of that, you need to run away while I distract him.” she throws a physical attack that confuses the shadow for a bit. 

“WHAT?!” Ann screams. “You must be crazy if you think that I plan on leaving you alone.” 

“I need to keep you safe.” Makoto whispers. “And this is the only way I can do that.” 

**(START OF MUSIC)**

“No. I refuse to leave.” the model gets down so she can stare directly at Makoto. “I will not lose you just when we found each other again. I won’t let anyone, neither greedy humans nor disgusting creatures from the metaverse try to take yet again from me someone I care about.” 

“I WON’T ALLOW IT!” Ann screams and feels a welcoming and excruciating pain inside of her. 

_ "My... It's taken far too long for you to reawaken from your self imposed slumber.”  _ the blonde woman hears a melodic and seductive voice say inside her mind. 

“Hecate?” Ann says in complete shock. “You’re back? How can that be?” 

_ “Isn’t it ironic how yet again you find yourself in a position of complete helplessness? She…” _ Hecate says in her mind while thinking of Makoto. “ _ The woman you care so much about, is being attacked while you stand behind her doing nothing. Tell me... Who is going to help her if you don't? How can you even wish to be with her when you’re not strong enough... Such is the scream of the other you that dwells within…” _

“You’re right.” Ann whispers angrily. “I am not strong enough. Not without you.” 

_ “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear. I am thou, thou art I… We can forge a new contract... One where you will no longer have to restrain yourself. Where you will be able to be your truest self! Understand?”  _

Ann nods in agreement. 

“I will no longer accommodate to people’s image of me. I will be myself in my truest and most honest way!” 

_ “Then I'll gladly lend you my strength."  _ Hecate finishes and Ann feels a familiar mask on her face. 

“Ann…” Makoto whispers in complete awe. “You have reawakened.” 

“I will hide no more!” Ann screams and tears the mask off her face, feeling the surge of her persona’s power rising from inside of her. 

Feeling Hecate’s power flowing through her, Ann notices that the clothes she wears are not the same ones from her time as a Phantom Thief. This time, they look more like the clothes of an empress. Red like blood but more regal and serious, showing that she was no longer an insecure girl. 

“Hecate!” Ann screams and her persona appears. “Go!” she yells and fire goes straight towards the monster, who shrieks and backs away, it not being completely destroyed. 

“Now let me heal you.” Ann heals some of Makoto’s wounds and it helps her enough to stand up. 

“Do a fire attack again. It seems like it affected it.” the brunette tells her. 

Nodding in understanding, Ann replicates her previous attack, it making the creature get dizzy. 

“DAMN YOU!” the creature growls. 

“All out attack!” Makoto screams and Ann immediately follows, the two hitting and attacking the monster until it became dust. 

“We got him!” Ann says proudly and is saved from falling to the ground by Makoto. 

**(END OF MUSIC)**

Letting go once she knew that they were safe, the only thing that Ann could think about was how tired she felt. 

“I forgot how tiring this was. And I thought that I was in shape.” she says and it makes Makoto chuckle. “I will kill my trainer for lying to me.” 

“Well, I don’t think your trainer considered shadow fighting a part of your training.” the brunette tries to joke. 

“I don’t think anyone does.” the blonde stares at her friend knowingly. “Was this what had you so worried when I saw you earlier at LeBlanc?” 

Makoto nods. 

“Why didn’t you tells us?” 

“I just found out about this last night, after Sae, Tae and a fellow friend were almost killed by a shadow.” 

“So that’s why you were hurting when we hugged!” Ann says surprised. “And even like that you still went ahead and tried to fight this shadow as well?!” 

“Not like we had much of a choice.” Makoto murmurs. “Besides, this is how we used to do things when we were younger.” 

“True, but we did them together! So that we wouldn’t get too hurt.” she admonishes the older woman but then relaxes when she sees how her words had gotten to Makoto. “I’m sorry Mako-chan. I didn’t want to imply that you were hiding this from us.” 

“I wasn’t planning on telling you though.” the brunette admits softly. “Yet it seems like I don’t have a choice anymore.” 

“Why? We could help you. These are shadows and the metaverse we’re talking about.” 

“We are no longer the Phantom Thieves. And, each one of us has a life of their own. And good ones. The last thing I want is to drag everyone into this.” 

“Yet that doesn’t apply to you.” 

“Because it’s my duty. As police commissioner it’s my duty to protect the people of Tokyo.” 

“That’s bullshit.” Ann says bitterly and this makes Makoto stare at her in complete shock. “The real reason you didn’t want to tell us is because you’re worried something will happen to us. You’re trying to protect us from this.” 

“And what’s wrong about that?” Makoto says angrily. “About wanting to keep the people I care the most about safe?” 

“You always do that! Hell, you tried to do it a couple of minutes ago when you told me to abandon you.” 

“Because that was the only way to keep you safe.” 

“And that’s what is making me so angry! Why is my life more important than yours?!” Ann screams and notices that during their discussion the two of them had moved really close to each other. 

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Makoto says upset. “You Ann, have always mattered to me.” she whispers. “Way more than what I should be allowed to feel.” 

“Argrg!” the blonde screams and grabs Makoto’s face with her hands. “You’re such a pain.” she says and kisses Makoto on the lips, letting go of all her fears and just doing for once what she wanted to do for such a long time. 

Expecting Makoto to push her away, she is surprised when the opposite happens and instead is brought even closer than before. 

“If this is what I get for being a pain…” Makoto says after separating from Ann’s lips. “Then I’ll make sure to keep annoying you.” 

This makes Ann blush. 

“You stupid self-righteous woman.” she whispers and grabs the older woman’s hands. “Please understand that just like I matter to you, you matter to me. And the last thing I would like to see is you getting hurt. 

Makoto nods in understanding because if their positions were reversed she would feel the same way. 

“Understood? No more ‘I’ll fight the shadows on my own and won’t let my friends help me’ bullshit.” the blonde continues scolding her. 

Nodding in acceptance, Makoto smiles when Ann pulls her close and kisses her on the lips again. 

“I’ve wanted to kiss you for so long.” the brunette whispers after separating from the model, who blushes. 

“Me too.” Ann promises and hugs Makoto tight. “I have so much to share with you. So much I want to tell you about this.” she points at the two of them holding each other. “Maybe over some crepes?” 

“You still want to go?” Makoto asks surprised.

She had expected Ann to feel exhausted and with enough energy for the ride home. But then again, it was Ann they were talking about… 

“Of course! Don’t think you’ll get away with not buying me a strawberry crepe. Though now that I think about it, the investigation should be your priority.” Ann murmurs the last part. 

This makes Makoto smile. 

“Usually yes. But in this case, I think my presence at the crime scene will only be detrimental to the investigation. People tend to assume the worst when they see me on the field.”

“I think I heard something like that when I arrived to Tokyo. It was a talk show and they were talking about the missing police officer and your presence at the crime scene where the body was found. They made the connection right away.” Ann tells her. 

“They usually do far-fetched guesses but in this case the murder of a police officer would bring me out to the field.” Makoto muses. “Besides, I will make their suspicions official later today after I offer my condolences to the family of Officer Kanodi.” 

“You will do a press conference then?” 

Makoto nods. 

“Because of that, I don’t want to give them more material to draw their theories from. My presence at the walkway will certainly do that.” 

“That makes sense.” Ann holds her hand. “Hearing you say that makes me feel less guilty about stealing you away from your investigation just so you can buy me crepes.” 

“I’ll buy you as many as you want.” Makoto takes her phone out. “But first, let me make a phone call.” 

“Take your time.” Ann tells her kindly while letting her go. “Meanwhile, I’ll check out your sweet ride.” 

Chuckling, the brunette woman goes to the side and dials Aoki’s phone number. She doesn’t have to wait long for him to answer. 

_ “Boss we’re still looking.”  _

“Call the team off.” she uses her commissioner voice. “Tell them that it was confirmed that the call was a prank.” 

Aoki stays silent for a couple of seconds. 

“ _ Will do so Boss.”  _ he finally replies and that confirms to Makoto that she can trust Takashi and him. 

“After the team leaves, I want you to return to the crime scene where Takamaki-san made the call and keep an eye on it.” Makoto tells him. “For Takashi, I want him to go pick up Doctor Suzuki and bring her back to the crime scene so she can collect any evidence she finds. I would join you there, but I’m afraid that my presence at the walkway may give us some unwanted attention from the press. After Doctor Suzuki is done I want you to escort her back to the lab if necessary or back to her house.” 

_ “Understood.”  _ Aoki says solemnly.  _ “We will not fail you.”  _

“I know you won’t.” she smiles. “But please, put your safety above anything else. If you see something strange I want you to run away. Understood?” 

_ “Yes Boss.”  _

“Also, do you remember where LeBlanc is located?”Makoto asks him. 

_ “Yes.”  _

“I want Takashi and you to meet me there tomorrow at 10am. It’s time you two learn more about the enemy we could be facing. Tell Takashi to wait for my text with Doctor Suzuki’s address.” 

_ “We’ll be there Boss and I’ll do so.”  _ he promises her and hangs up, not asking Makoto any more questions. 

“I’m surprised he didn’t ask you more about it.” Ann says from behind her. “You did just basically imply that you will be withholding information from the police.” 

“They know there must be a really big reason for me to not do this through the police and trust my judgement.” Makoto says simply and smiles apologetically when she makes another phone call. “Aiya-san, I apologize for calling you so late but I’m in need of your help.” 

Ann stares at Makoto while the older woman is on the phone. To Ann, seeing Makoto be so assertive, confident and brave was something that was so characteristic of the brunette woman. From the moment she joined the Phantom Thieves, Makoto had become the brains of the group that led them through the many palaces and dungeons of mementos. While Akira had been the inspirational leader, Makoto had been the one that made sure they all returned alive from their adventures. 

“I’m afraid that there was another attack similar to the one we experienced last night.” she says and this makes Ann focus intently on the conversation. “And like we agreed to yesterday, I don’t want the information to be released.” 

_ “What do you need me to do Makoto?”  _ Aiya asks her solemnly. “ _ Surely you know that I will always be on your side.”  _

“Even if your professional reputation could be put at risk by helping me?” Makoto has to ask because this is a big favor she’s asking, one that could have bad repercussions on her mentor’s career if discovered. 

_ “Something tells me that this case is bigger than all of our reputations.”  _ Aiya replies.  _ “So yes, even with that warning I still plan on helping you.”  _

“Thank you Aiya-san.” Makoto says relieved. “I will be sending Detective Takashi to pick you up at your house if that’s alright with you.” 

_ “I’ll send you the address.”  _

“What I need is for you to get a medical kit that can help gather forensic evidence from a crime scene. From what Aoki and Takashi told me, there are no bodies there. But, there could be some traces of evidence that could aid the investigation.” Makoto explains. 

_ “Understood. Though I will need to go to the lab to get the necessary tools.”  _ Aiya tells her. 

“Takashi is ordered to follow your orders and help you obtain whichever you need.” 

_ “Noted. In regards to tests, can I contact Tae-chan if needed?”  _

“Yes. I will inform her of what you’re doing and to please make herself available if you need her.” Makoto promises. 

_ “Then I’ll contact you when I have more information.”  _ Aiya finishes and hangs up. 

“Sorry that took longer than expected.” Makoto apologizes to Ann while sending a quick text to Takashi with Aiya’s address. 

“I understand the urgency.” Ann smiles. “Besides, you look really hot when giving orders, Commissioner Niijima.” 

Makoto blushes. 

“Can I ask you a question though?” she asks seriously. 

The brunette nods.

“Why are you not involving the police?” 

Makoto thinks about her answer for a couple of seconds. 

“Tonight confirmed to me that this is no simple murder case. And based on how people reacted last time when the metaverse was involved… Getting them involved just wasn’t the best case-scenario for us.” 

Ann nods in agreement. 

“Besides, the whole nature of the murders makes me believe that what the perpetrator is trying to obtain is some type of visibility. Targeting a police officer is like issuing a direct challenge to the police.” 

“What about the homeless person? That doesn’t fit with the profile you’re going for.” 

“I don’t think we were meant to find out about it. I believe it was pure coincidence that you happened to be there and made the call.” Makoto hypothesizes while thinking of Tae’s theory of using human beings as energy sources to keep the shadows in the real world. 

“When I tell you more of what I’ve learned over the last two days things will start to make more sense.” she says to Ann. “Things that I need to share with all of you.” she adds. 

“You mean you plan on telling the group about the shadows and the attacks?” Ann asks. 

Makoto nods. 

“You were right earlier when you said that I should have told the Phantom Thieves about this. It’s wrong of me to keep you all in the dark. Specially if it seems like our personas can reawaken in this world.” 

“Everyone will support you. I’m sure of that.” 

“Still sucks that I have to be the one delivering the bad news. I do enough of that already as police commissioner.” she groans while taking her phone out. “And now I have to go and tell Sis about this because I need to ask Tae-chan for help.” 

Ann chuckles at this and watches Makoto start a text. 

“Shouldn’t you call her?” Ann asks. “Maybe she’s asleep already?” 

“Tae-chan? No way. She’s up.” Makoto smiles and continues writing the text. 

**Makoto:** I need to ask your for a favor. A big one. 

**Tae:** Does it have to do with what happened last night? 

**Makoto:** Yes and no. I sent Aiya-san to collect some samples from a crime scene where a shadow was involved. If she needs your help she will call you. 

**Tae:** Okay. Will you tell Sae about this? 

**Makoto:** Yes. Tomorrow I will tell everyone what’s happening. 

**Tae:** And by everyone you mean the Phantom Thieves. 

**Tae:** Took you long enough Mako-chan. 

This makes Ann laugh. That was so Takemi-san. 

“She’s right.” Ann agrees. “You need to learn to trust your friends and family more, Mako-chan.” she hugs Makoto from behind. “In my case, I’ll be with you each step of the way.” she promises Makoto, who returns the hug quickly. “Besides, I can already imagine Ryuji’s face when he sees me tomorrow morning.” 

This makes Makoto stare curiously at her. 

“No one apart from Futaba, Haru and you know I’m here.” she explains to the older woman. 

“Ann Takamaki.” Makoto starts scolding her. “You need to be more considerate of your friends and let them know you’re visiting so they can plan ahead.” she stops her scolding when she gets another text. 

**Tae:** Also, you should know that this won’t be enough for Sae. She will want to know before everyone else. 

**Makoto:** Come have breakfast at my apartment tomorrow morning. We were planning on being at LeBlanc at 10:00am. 

**Tae:** We? My, my Mako-chan… Who is that ‘we’ you’re talking about?

**Makoto:** I’m not answering your texts anymore. See you tomorrow!

Ann laughs loudly at Makoto’s exasperated face. 

“God, I had missed this so much.” she grabs Makoto’s arm tight. “You really haven’t changed at all, Mako-chan.” 

“Now you’re teasing me.” Makoto pouts a little. “Keep doing that and I won’t buy you any crepes.” 

“You wouldn’t dare!” the blonde says happily and pulls Makoto towards her bike. “Besides, I didn’t say I didn’t like it.” she winks. “I absolutely love it.” 


End file.
